


Forget-Me-Not

by Misuryu



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Amnesia, College, M/M, Post-Canon, no beta we die like men, tfw you spend 4 years mourning your rival and he just shows back up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 52,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misuryu/pseuds/Misuryu
Summary: It's been four years since Akechi Goro disappeared and was assumed dead. Amamiya Ren is taking a philosophy class in college as one of his gen eds. He was hoping for an easy A, not his amnesiac rival to show up out of the blue, very much not dead. But hey, he'll take what he can get.(Spoilers for the entirety of Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal)Updates Bi-weekly for a bit!
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 79
Kudos: 439





	1. Chapter 1

It had been four years and Ren still thought about Akechi Goro. He didn’t know if he would describe how often he thought about the late detective as frequently, but it certainly wasn’t a small amount. His friends would probably say that it was guilt. Guilt that he couldn’t save him. Guilt that he didn’t even get to say goodbye. Those were true, no doubt, but more guilt was likely to lie that he had had a chance to save him. But they didn’t know that. Only Morgana knew and he hadn’t told anyone. And how could he? How could he face Makoto, Futaba, and Haru and tell them to their faces that giving up their beloved parents was a necessary sacrifice, but Ren couldn’t give up the boy he-

It didn’t matter. Akechi was dead. There was nothing to do to change that.

Ren looked down at the crumpled paper in his hand. He hadn’t even realized he’d crumpled it. Straightening it out, he glanced at the words on the paper, seeing if any of them matched with the books on the shelf in front of him. He should have ordered this semester’s books online, but it was too late for that. His other arm held the books he’d already snagged close to his chest. Only two more left on the list: one for this semester’s psychology class and the other for one of his gen eds, philosophy. Futaba had almost laughed him out of the apartment when she’d seen his schedule. Not that he had shown her; she’d hacked the network to find out if she, Ren, and Ryuji had accidentally picked any of the same classes. He’d said something about how it might give him a talking point with some of his patients. Ren would never hear the end of it if he told her that he and a certain detective-slash-assassin had spent long nights discussing the topic over drinks at the jazz club. Maybe he’d used that as an excuse that it would be an easy class, one that he’d have enough background knowledge he wouldn’t need to study much and would be able to focus on the classes that mattered more. Maybe he did it in Akechi’s memory. Maybe he did it to feel closer to him, a way to bring him back in a way.

He slunk through the crowds that had gathered in front of every shelf, squeezing by the other people who were scrambling to buy or rent books before someone else, carefully maneuvering in a way so that he didn’t drop his precariously carried books. Just his luck that he was able to snag the last copies of all the books that he needed.

Ren was glancing around the store as the lady rung up his books when he saw a flash of a familiar shade of golden brown hair peek out over the sea of people coming and going through the bookstore’s entrance. His heart skipped a beat. It couldn’t be. He knew that, deep down. It couldn’t be him, because he was dead, because he died on that cruise ship in his bastard of a father’s heart and was brought back only for Ren to let him die again.

Though if he wasn’t currently occupied, if he was able to, there would have been nothing to stop him from running and checking, just to be sure. Even though this wasn’t the first time Ren had “seen” him. Oh, Ren had seen him tons of times following the collapse of Maruki’s false reality. He’d sworn to whatever gods were out there and back that he’d seen Akechi at the train station when Ren was leaving Tokyo at the end of the school year. Futaba had meticulously gone through all of the footage from the Tokyo Station security station that day but nothing. He’d bribed her with a limited edition Featherman Red figure to go through footage from cameras around the station, just in case, but she’d still found nothing.  
“I’m sorry, Joker,” She’d said over the phone, “I’ve checked and checked but he’s not there. It must’ve been a glitch in the matrix or a ghost or something.”

After that, anytime someone had a similar hair color, he’d always feel his heart race as he would go over, some times more subtle than others, just to make sure. He didn’t know why he’d think that Akechi would just show up in person rather than call or text him like a normal person, but Ren had always had hope that he’d come back. That he’d be alive and they’d pick up right where they left off.

“That’ll be 10,786 yen,” The clerk’s cheery voice snapped him out of his reminiscing. Why was he doing so much that recently? He dug out his wallet and gave the money over to the cashier. It had to be the philosophy class. That’s got to be what is making Ren think about him today. Well, tomorrow was the first day of classes. That should take his mind off of things long gone.

\--  
Ann: happy first day of class guys!!  
Haru: I believe in you!  
Makoto: Thank you both.  
Ryuji: u and haru are so lucky u dont have to go to class  
Futaba: death i long for thee  
Ryuji: dude same. waking up sucks ass  
Makoto: Well, you both knew class started today. Did you not both go to bed at a reasonable time in preparation?  
Ryuji: nah  
Futaba: who do you think we are  
Yusuke: It appears that I am quite lucky that my university’s classes do not start until next week. Though I do need to go shopping for new paints…  
Futaba: shut it inari  
Futaba: hey ryuji did you see ren this morning?  
Ann: wait don’t you guys all live together?  
Ryuji: ye he said he was leaving early. something about how we’re out of coffee and he needs to buy some from a café or something this morning  
Futaba: WE’RE OUT OF COFFEE??  
Futaba: ah. death comes for me. tell sojiro i love him  
Ryuji: shit am i gonna have to drag you to class  
-  


Ren, half asleep and, at this point, half coffee, ignored the buzzing of his phone in his pocket as stumbled into the lecture hall. Classes at eight in the morning were a mistake. Not only a mistake that he made in deciding to take one, but a mistake in general. Maybe he should have reformed society into banning classes that early in the morning instead of just going after the hearts of criminals and evildoers. The first day of the semester was always awful, but not having his self-brewed coffee made it so much worse. So Mona could tell him to wake up every morning and go to sleep on time (even though he wasn’t a kid anymore), but God forbid the cat remind him when he’s out of coffee beans. And as a result, here he was, having woken up far too early and with a cup of overpriced coffee that tasted no where near as good as the type that Sojiro taught him to make.

“Ren! Stop standing there and find a seat!” Morgana hissed from inside his bag. Luckily, the majority of the students in the hall looked as asleep as Joker did, none of them seeming to respond to the sudden noise of a cat. Or maybe the rumors of that one psychology and social work double major that carried a cat everywhere had gotten around. Morgana had gotten quite popular their freshman year, with none of the students ratting him out to the professor for bringing a cat to class, and even one professor who noticed and started bringing snacks for him. Ren loved that professor. Too bad they weren’t offering any classes he could take this semester. Maybe that would have made the semester bearable.

“Shush,” He muttered, just loud enough that his cat could hear him, and hopefully no one else would. “Give me a sec. I’m tired.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t be if you had gone to bed earlier,” Morgana chided.

“Maybe I wouldn’t be if someone hadn’t been marathoning the new Featherman series with Futaba in the living room. And commenting on it. Loudly.”

Morgana did not respond.

The cat’s advice was sound, though, even if Ren didn’t want to admit it to him. Barely looking up, he dragged his feet to the center of the hall, grabbing a desk in the row near the back, but still in the center of the room, middle of said row. Perfect for not standing out. He pulled his laptop from the bag (where it had dutifully been protected by Morgana) before zipping it up just enough that his feline companion could stick his head out if he wished. It helped to bring Morgana to class. Just like in high school, sometimes he remembered facts from the class that Ren couldn’t, helping him out on exams, even if Ren rarely needed it. Besides, he was used to the cat being around him. It felt lonely without him, though he’d never admit it to Morgana. His ego didn’t need any more raising.

Ren’s mind drifted in and out of a haze as more and more students began filing in, the desks around him in the lecture hall filling up more and more. No one sat next to him, however. Ren hadn’t checked the mirror before leaving this morning. Maybe the lack of sleep with the mix of an absolutely terrible coffee and just the weariness that comes with the first day of class made him look unapproachable. It had last year, until people realized the truth.

He was studying an interesting spot on his desk when he heard footsteps come up beside him.  
“Hello. This seat isn’t taken, I presume?”

Ren’s heart stopped. No no no. It couldn’t be. He could feel Morgana stiffen in the bag by his foot. He held his breath as he looked up at the source of the voice, of that voice.

He looked older. Of course he looked older. It had been four years after all. But Ren would recognize that face in his sleep. He’d seen it in his sleep quite commonly for those past years. His hair was a bit shorter, a bit better trimmed, his face a bit leaner as teenage youth had been grown out of, but those red brown eyes were the exact same.

“Um. Am I to take that as a yes?” Akechi Goro asked again.

“N-no. No. Of course it isn’t,” Ren stumbled out. It had to be him, right? It had to be Akechi. He looked the same. His voice was the same. His style was different, having traded the clothes that Ren had always thought of as an old man’s clothes for a more fashionable polo and jeans, but it was him. He was alive.

“Ah. Very good,” Akechi sat down and began pulling his stuff from his bag. “Oh, I feel like I should give you a fair warning, I am left handed, and there are no left handed desks, so I do apologize if I bump into you at all.”

Ren couldn’t speak. That’s all he had to say to him after four years? He mourned him. For four years, he mourned him and the first thing Akechi has to say to him is if he can sit there? Akechi raised an eyebrow and his gaze seemed to pierce into Ren.

“Have we met before?”

Ren froze. Had they met? What was he talking about? “I’m pretty sure, yeah.” His voice cracked, foiling his attempt at looking cool. Akechi’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Katsura Shouichi.” He held out a hand. A non-gloved hand. “I had a bit of an accident a few years back, I’m told. I don’t remember much before then. Do we go to the same high school?”

Ren felt all the emotions that were flooding back after four years freeze in their tracks.

You had to be fucking kidding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, writing in 2020? Sounds fake but okay.  
> Sorry, I'm kinda rusty with the whole writing thing but I couldn't get the idea out of my head. This is my first time writing any of the characters, so do tell me if there are any issues. I do plan to keep this going. If there's any formatting issues, please tell me, as this is my first time posting here.


	2. Chapter 2

Ren thanked whatever gods were out there that the professor didn’t appear to be planning to do anything in the class other than go over the syllabus, because he sure as hell wasn’t able to pay attention during that entire class. Well, it would be fairer to say that he was paying attention, just not to the professor. 

He was hoping he was subtle, praying that he was being subtle as he observed the person next to him, his mind racing a mile a minute. It had to be Akechi. Sure, the name’s didn’t match, and he was currently acting more like his Detective Prince façade than the hard edged cynical true personality that Ren had come attached to, but he looked the same and his handedness even matched. A pang of nostalgia went through him as memories of that first pool game at the game club, Akechi’s surprise that Ren had even noticed it. Was that even common knowledge to his fans, back when he was relevant, before everyone had practically forgotten about him and moved on after his disappearance? No one would want to impersonate him would they? Why would they, even?

He wouldn’t pretend not to know Ren, would he? After all they’d been through? 

If Akechi (Ren refused to mentally call him Katsura. He wasn’t Katsura) had noticed the person he claimed was a stranger side eyeing him the whole class, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he diligently followed along with the professor’s description of the syllabus that had been handed out at the beginning. Ever the people pleaser. 

Though, Akechi didn’t seem to be faking not knowing Ren. Ren had gotten quite used to how Akechi acted when he wasn’t being genuine, and he wasn’t getting any of those vibes from the person next to him. A lot could change in four years, but Ren liked to think that he’d known Akechi pretty well. He’d thought, maybe more hoped than thought, that Akechi would say the same thing about him.

Ren wracked his brain on what to say to him. While he had dreamed about meeting Akechi again, seeing him alive, those had always just been day dreams, fantasies, nothing he actually expected to happen. Normally in those fantasies it would be Akechi saying the first thing, not Ren. Besides, in those fantasies, Akechi had actually known who Ren was, so most of his first lines were thrown out the window at that. How was he supposed to start a conversation with him? “Hey, we were friends – well, it’s complicated. We were rivals, and you betrayed me and my friends but after my one wish in a new reality was to bring you back from the dead, we took down a power crazed but well-meaning therapist and we all thought you’d died after that?” As if that would actually work. Ren thought it far more likely that he’d be sent to a councilor himself; or at the very least, Akechi would never talk to him again. And Ren couldn’t risk that. Couldn’t risk losing him again. He’d mourned for four years, he wasn’t going to do it for another four. 

The familiar rustling sound of bags being packed up and people starting to shuffle out of the classroom snapped Ren out of it. He quickly shoved his laptop and the syllabus into his bag, ignoring the quick disgruntled meow of the cat who had fallen asleep in the bag and quickly followed behind Akechi, who was already on his way to the door.  


“Ake- Katsura! Wait up,” He called after him. Akechi slowed down a bit and turned, but did not stop walking.

“Ah. Sorry, I’m not sure I caught your name?”

“Uh. Ren. Amamiya Ren,” he said, now walking beside the other student, “You really don’t remember anything, do you?” Akechi’s pace briefly seemed to break rhythm, but kept going.

“I did say that. I believe you did say you… knew me?” There was a hint of desperation in his voice. Ren guessed that he’d never met anyone that said they’d known him. How lonely that must have been.

“You could say that,” Knowing seemed like such an understatement. “So. Uh. Do you want to grab a coffee or something? We could talk about it.”

“Now?” His lips tugged at the edges in a hint of a smile. God, Ren missed him.

“If you’re free.” Ren returned that hint of a smile, winking.

“Alas, I am not. Classes to get to and all. But I wouldn’t say no to that at a future time,” He turned off of the campus’s sidewalk and leaned against the wall of a building. His free hand slipped into his pants, pulling out a phone. Ren was slightly surprised to see it was a different brand than Akechi’s old one, but realized he probably shouldn’t be. Akechi had always been more of a practical person. “I can call you when I have the time though. Is it alright if I ask for your number?”

“Sure, yeah,” Ren didn’t know why he was flustered. He pulled out his own phone and swapped it with Akechi’s. It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d done this after all. Another pang of bittersweet nostalgia shot through him as he registered Akechi’s new number.

  
_“I’m glad I found you. I wanted to thank you in person.”  
_

__

__

_Ren hadn’t expected the detective to come talk to him, especially after he had practically insulted him on live television. He’d suspected something was up with him, thought; he had responded to Morgana. Though he hadn’t thought much of it at the time. It was unlikely that they were the only ones knew or had access to the metaverse. He had to admit, he was more thrown off guard when the guy had started talking about Hegel. Was it his attempt at flirting? Ren couldn’t say it was an entirely failed attempt. And having someone to talk to, especially if they were involved with the police who did not appear to be happy about the phantom thieves’ current work, would very likely be beneficial to the cause._

_  
_

_It helped that Akechi Goro was pretty, if Ren was being honest._

“I’ll contact you when things settle down a bit,” Akechi met Ren’s eyes. “I look forward to it.”

“Same,” Ren waved as Akechi turned and disappeared among the swarm of students and faculty. Morgana popped his head out of the bag.

“Was that-?”

“Yup,” Ren slid the phone back into his pocket. He started walking to the library, now very glad he hadn’t picked a class between the one he just finished and the one he had in about an hour and a half. He was tempted to skip class the rest of the day, just go back to the off-campus apartment he shared with Ryuji and Futaba, but honestly, it was too early in the semester to start skipping.

“Do you think he’s telling the truth?” Morgana ducked out of the way of a passerby trying to pet him. “He could be lying again.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Ren was sure of that. There was no point to it. He and Akechi had already seen the worst of each other, what more was there to hide. “If he didn’t have it, he wouldn’t fake it. He’d just avoid us.”

“Hmm…” Morgana said, “Are you going to tell the others?”

“Probably should. Maybe Futaba can help figure out what happened between then and now.”

Since it was the beginning of the school year, there weren’t many people in the library yet, making it incredibly easy for Ren to find a table in the back, out of the prying eyes of the librarian. He sat his back in the chair next to him. Morgana stretched as he exited the bag before planting himself in Ren’s lap.

  
Ryuji: i swear to god futaba im not doing this again  
Ryuji: i dont care if this is ur first day of college im not doing this  
Futaba: u know u love me  
Ryuji: do i tho  
Ryuji: do i  
Ann: Aw I miss you guys!! We have to hang out when I get back from my job!  
Haru: Oh, I agree! I can take a day off when you do!  
Sumire: Hopefully I can make some time as well!  
Ryuji: if ur able to get futaba out of bed for it  
Futaba: >:-(  
Makoto: She didn’t miss the first day of class, did she? It’s important to make a first impression.  
Yusuke: Why was it that she was oversleeping? Did she have this issue in her high school years as well?  
Ren: She and Mona were up all night screaming at Featherman Black  
Ren: Mona wants me to tell everyone that he was not screaming. (Which he was).  
Ren: Anyway. Turns out Akechi isn’t dead.  
Futaba: DUDE WHAT  
Ryuji: FOR REAL???  
Yusuke: Are you serious?  
Makoto: Are you sure?  
Ann: Really??  
Sumire: Are you positive?  
Ren: Yeah he sits next to me in philosophy.  
Ren: Says he cant remember anything tho  
Ren: Goes by a different name and everything  
Ren: But yeah. I’m sure its him.  
Ryuji: effin hell man  
-

Ren shoved the phone in his pocket and went to go get another cup of horribly tasting, over-priced coffee from the library’s café. Only Makoto took convincing that Ren was telling the truth. She came around when Futaba had gotten the student ID picture of Katsura Shouichi and posted it in the chat. While some part of Ren believed in the seven doppelgangers theory, he knew that the person that he met today wasn’t one of Akechi’s doppelgangers. Futaba promised she wouldn’t skip classes (though Ren suspected that she only said that to avoid the wrath of Makoto), but after class, she’d look more into things. It didn’t escape Ren’s notice that Haru stopped responding after the reveal. Could have been she had to return to work, maybe a meeting came up or something. Ren knew the more likely reason, though.

  


Once again, Ren spent the class not paying attention one bit. All he could think about is when would he get the text for his coffee date. No. Not date. It was a meeting. He might have had dates with the Akechi who could remember him (though Akechi threatened to shoot him again if he called their nights at the jazz club ‘dates’), but this one didn’t know that. Didn’t know him.  
Ren would be lying if he said that didn’t hurt a bit. Well, maybe more than a bit.  


He was about to start on his way home after his last class when he finally got a text from Not-Akechi.

“My apologies! I had a full day of classes today. Would it be possible to meet now? Possibly get a cup before heading home? Unless you’ve already left, that is.”

Ren’s heart skipped a beat. Now?

‘Yeah, that sounds great,’ he typed back, ‘Do you know where you want to go’

‘I’ve only started school this year. So I’ll have to take your word on it.’ The reply came near immediately after. Ren snorted. Still a punctual person, too.

‘I know a great place not too far from campus, on the way to the train station. Meet me by the gate?’

‘I’ll meet you there.’

  


Akechi was standing by the pillar of the open gate when Ren arrived, standing strikingly similar to the way he did when he was waiting outside of the club in Kichijoji. The more things change, the more they stay the same, Ren mused.

“Ah. Amamiya. You came quicker than expected.” Akechi said, smiling. 

“Couldn’t keep an old friend waiting. Come on, I’ll lead the way.” Ren motioned for him to walk alongside him. “It’s great, you’ll love it. Not as good as Boss’s coffee, but, well, beggars can’t be choosers.”

“The canned coffee from the vending machines?” Akechi asked, an eyebrow raised. Was Ren making a bad second-first impression?

“Ah, yeah. I forgot. You don’t remember. Boss runs LeBlanc, a café you used to love over in Yongenjaya,” He was about to add that they should go sometime, but he didn’t know how Sojiro would respond to seeing Akechi again. Probably better to wait until Akechi remembered or understood more of his past before letting him meet people that would have grudges against him. Boss might. Futaba was never clear on how much she held him to blame for her mother’s death. Haru certainly did.

“Ah,” Akechi gave a soft laugh, “I’m already learning more stuff about myself. It’s interesting.”

“Always glad to lend a hand.”

  


The coffee shop wasn’t nearly as nice as LeBlanc in Ren’s opinion. Sure, it looked nicer, and was a bit more high end, and always had customers, but nothing beat the feel of Leblanc and Sojiro’s coffee. Ren ordered his usual, and Akechi ordered on Ren’s recommendation. They sat down with their cups at one of the tables in the corner, far from any of the other customers. Ren didn’t want anyone possibly overhearing too much of their conversation.

“Oh, you were right. This coffee is fantastic,” Akechi said after taking a sip, “I’ll have to ask for more recommendations from you.”

Ren smiled, nodded. He snuck a small piece of the cake he’d bought to Morgana, who was barely sticking himself out of the bag. He took a deep breath. Maybe this conversation wouldn’t be so bad. But things rarely went well for Ren, and even more rarely went well for Akechi, based on what he had been told.

“So, what do you know about Akechi Goro?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Again, please tell me if there's any characterization or formatting issues! Will probably try to update this at least once weekly, probably on the weekends. And sorry if it's going a bit slow! And thank you so much for the comments on the last chapter! They mean a lot and I do read them all


	3. Chapter 3

“I’ve heard the name,” Akechi said, taking another sip of the coffee, both bare hands wrapped around the steaming cup. A shy smile. “A few people have told me I look quite a bit like him, but that hasn’t happened in a few years.” 

Ren wasn’t surprised. Fame and the public’s opinion had been always been a fickle thing. He’d had experience with how quickly people can turn against you, after the assassination of Okumura Kunikazu by the man sitting at the table across from him. Ren had found it a bit strange how quickly Goro Akechi seemed to have been forgotten, been wiped from the public’s consciousness. Maybe it was just the transience of fame in the modern age, where once a person or fad or thing stops constantly appearing in the media, the public moves onto the next big thing, something new and shiny. Sure, there were still a few fans around who swore that he was just taking a break, and Ann had once come across a blog site that claimed he had moved to America and attending university there, but those types of people were few and far between. No one ever really talked about him out of the occasional “remember back during the Phantom Thieves Fiasco?” 

Makoto was the one to suggest that maybe after Shido’s confessions and the collapse of the conspiracy, people in high up, important places had learned that a certain teen celebrity may have been involved. With his disappearance, maybe they were happy not to look too deep into it. Ren believed it. It seemed like something the government would do. Sweep it under the rug with all of the other phantom thieves news, hope that no one would remember it, move on as if it had never happened. 

Ren sometimes wished he could move on. Thought he almost had, though, who was he trying to fool. Himself maybe? Well, there was no point in it now, considering that the very thing he was claiming he was trying to move on from was right here.

“They do, huh,” Ren was stalling, he was very much aware of that. He had no idea how to start this conversation. Maybe this was a bad idea. It was probably a bad idea. “Ever looked into the guy?”

“Only a bit. He was a bit before my time, you know. Has he something to do with what you know about my past?” He paused, setting down the cup, “I do hope you haven’t got me confused with him. It’s happened once or twice before and did take a bit of convincing.”

“Nope. Not confused at all.” Ren wouldn’t forget the person who shot him, fought side by side with him, the person he-. No. This wasn’t the time. He shoved those feelings, those thoughts into the box in his subconscious. He tapped his finger on the hard wood. “So. What have you been up to? It’s been a while. And the….uh…. amnesia thing is new.” Ren nervously grinned.

Akechi raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you about to tell me how you knew me?”

“Ah. But it’s been so long. How could I not want to catch up to my dear rival?”

“Rival?” That eyebrow raised even higher.

“Hey, you’re the one that said it first,” Ren felt a genuine smile tug at the edges of his lips, “Rival this, rival that. Never shut up about it.”

“More enemies than friends then?” Was that a hint of disappointment in Akechi’s voice? Nah. It couldn’t be.

“I wouldn’t say that. You might. I wouldn’t though. Some might say we were as thick as thieves.” Ren said. He heard Morgana groan.

“Would they now?” A small smile tugged at the edge of Akechi’s mouth as well. Almost like old times.

“So… what’s your story? Where’ve you been the past four years?” I’ve missed you , he wanted to add. But it was probably best to save that until either Akechi got his memories back or got to know Ren a bit better.

“Hm,” Akechi traced the rim of his glass with a finger. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

“I’ve got time.” I always have time for you .

“Well. The short version is I woke up after a few months in a hospital. No one came forward for me, then rehab, then spent a year trying to figure out where I came from, went to my, I assumed, final year of high school, and,” He motioned to himself, the building, “now I’m here.”

No one came forward for him? How long had he been in the hospital? “That’s it?”

One of Akechi’s familiar smug expressions snuck out. Ren felt a bit of relief, glad that he still had that at least. “I don’t know if I actually know you, Amamiya. You’re going to have to work for the rest of it.”

Ren sighed. He wanted to argue with it. Ren did know him, he wanted to say. He knew all about Akechi’s past, watched him have a goddamn mental breakdown, had his back in another universe. You shot me. I thought I let you die. .

“You’ve got me there.” He relented. As much as he wanted to press, if he did, chances were Ren would just push Akechi away, out of his life once again.

Akechi picked the cup back up. As he took a sip, set it back down, he did not break eye contact with Ren even once. The lights in the cafe turned on brighter. Night fell. 

“Your turn,” Akechi Goro said, just as he did during one of their chess games. “What about me?”

Ren leaned back in his chair, shoving his hands in his pants pockets. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

“That’s… a lot.” Ren shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 

“Well, let’s start with the basics. You said that I said we were rivals, but you’d rather describe us as friends, yes? So we were close?”

Ren felt his throat catch. “Yeah. We were.”

“So that means that you know what my name was? Before?”

“Yeah.”

“And it was…?” He urged, eyes pleading. Ren could imagine the desperation. He didn’t really remember his ‘interrogation’ by the police following the betrayal, and that honestly scared him. How many hours had he lost? What had happened? He’d had issues sleeping for the first few weeks after the incident, haunted by the small flashes of memories, the needles, the violence, that slipped away as quickly as they appeared. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for Akechi, losing his entire life. But how much of it was his place to tell him?

Akechi seemed somewhat happy, somewhat content. He wasn’t weighed down with the trauma of his upbringing, of the foster homes and his mother’s death, of being an unwanted child. He wasn’t weighed down by the murders that he felt he had to do in order to take down Shido. Would he hate him for telling him? God, Ren did want his Akechi back. Akechi, with his hard edges and his harsh words. Akechi, with his smug smiles and verbal sparring with Ren. The Akechi that wanted a duel and threw a glove in his face, claiming he hated him, but sacrificed himself regardless. His Akechi would want to know his past, Ren knew that. He remembered that night at LeBlanc. Do you really think I’d want this? Akechi had said. He would consider this as not living his own life, Ren knew that. But could he take away the contentment he’d seemed to have found? 

“Not Katsura Shouichi,” Ren snorted. A pang of guilt squeezed his insides.

“Are you going to tell me what it is or are you just going to keep playing games?”

“Not yet,” Ren leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes peeking through his bangs. “I can tell you more about, well, you. But I need you to have a reason to keep hanging out with me, don’t I?”

Akechi rolled his eyes. Though, Ren could have sworn his partner’s ears turned pink, as well as his cheeks. But it had to be the lights playing tricks on him. “I am willing to bet I thought you were insufferable.”

“You’ve told me that before, yes.” Ren winked.

“Shocking,” Akechi sighed. “Well, how did we meet?”

“I said the cops sucked and you asked for my number.” He snuck a piece of cake to Morgana again. “Then you spouted some stuff about Hegel?” Ren conveniently left out the part that Akechi had been working with the said cops, but to be fair, that probably wasn’t relevant.

“Are you serious?”

“That’s what I was thinking, too, to be honest. Like, who does that?”

“Me, apparently.”

Ren laughed. “Yeah, you, apparently.” Took a breath. “I really have missed you, you know.”

“I’d be lying if I said this didn’t feel a bit familiar.” Akechi sighed. Took a deep breath. “Is there a reason you won’t tell me what my name was – is?”

“Would you believe me if I said it was Akechi Goro?” Ren said. Akechi rolled his eyes again.

“After all of that? Probably not. You’d think someone would have come and found me before, if I was, wouldn’t you?” Akechi mused, a hint of sadness coming through in his voice despite the attempts to sound light. Even if he didn’t remember it, Ren suspected that being the ‘unwanted child’ wasn’t completely gone from his psyche.

Yeah, you’d think that someone would care, someone would bother to actually look for him. Akechi didn’t remember the fact, and Ren was pretty sure he was one of the few people Akechi had ever told, but it wasn’t like Akechi had much of an actual support system. If you didn’t count Sae, who knew nothing of his personal life outside of what was publicly known, and Shido, who wasn’t exactly the textbook definition of a caring authority figure. It was doubtful that many people saw Akechi as something other than a useful tool; something that was convenient to have around but not your problem if it disappeared or broke. 

“We did look.” Ren whispered. They had. Even when the others gave up, Ren had kept looking. There wasn’t much to go on, and there hadn’t been reliable news, but he did look. He never gave up hope.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.” Akechi glanced down at his phone. “I’m quite sorry, but I need to cut this short. I really don’t want to miss my train.” He stood up and grabbed his bag. Ren quickly did the same, much to the dismay of Morgana, who had nibbling on yet another piece of cake that Ren had slipped him. Ren had long given up on trying to get Morgana to stick to a normal cat appropriate diet. If cake and curry was going to kill the cat, he reasoned that it would have happened long ago.

When they stepped out of the door to the cafe, the pair were met with the cool, late summer air, and the dull click of the streetlamps flickering on. Most of the students had been long gone before the final class period, as many didn’t want to take a class that late, and as a result the streets were mostly barren. Only the sounds of cars and a distant train broke through the monotonous song of the cicadas. Ren turned to Akechi. 

“We should do this again some time.”

“We should,” Akechi said. He motioned down the street. “Care to join me on the way to the station?”

“Would love to, but my apartments in the opposite direction, and I need to stop by the store on the way back or Futaba will kill me.” Akechi flashed a questioning look at the name. “Oh. Yeah. She’s a… um… mutual friend.” Pause. “I guess I’ll catch you later. See you in class on Wednesday?”

“Of course. I’m glad to meet you, Amamiya. Well, meet you again,” Akechi waved and started on his way.

“You can call me Ren, you know.” Ren called after him. Akechi turned around.

“Then I’ll see you another time, then, Ren.”

Ren grinned all the way to the grocery store.

  
-  


“He never called you that before, you know,” Morgana said, observing Ren from his shoulder as he began to grab cans of coffee mix off of the store shelf and placed them in his basket. “Oh, oh! Remember Futaba likes Blue Mountain!”

Ren shrugged, earning a meow in protest from Morgana. The cat was damn lucky that few people shopped in the local store in the evening. Even if they did, Ren knew no one would say anything. The store’s owner had a soft spot for a certain black feline. What was it about Mona that made people love him? Ryuji had once ‘joked’ (Ren knew he wasn’t joking) that it was because no one could hear Morgana speak. That was probably very true. 

“He doesn’t know that though,” Ren grabbed the can of Blue Mountain that Morgana had indicated. “Besides, I did tell him he could.” Akechi had just never taken him up on the offer. He had never declined it outright, just had politely smiled, said that he’d keep it in mind. The more Ren thought about it, did he ever call anyone by their given names?

The shopping basket was starting to get a bit heavier. That should be enough coffee to last the three of them for a bit. At least, if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be Ren’s turn to go out and buy it next time. He made his way to the self check out. 

“You do plan on explaining everything to him?” Mona flexed his claws in and out, digging into Ren’s shirt. “Would it be better if you don’t? What if he tries to kill you again?”

“Mona, we both know that if he was going to do that, he would have done it anytime before you guys showed up in Maruki’s palace. Or anytime he had been alone.” He started scanning the coffee tins. “It’s far more likely he’d just turn himself in again,” Not that they’d probably accept the confession. Sweeping unpleasant things is much more difficult when someone tries to bring it back up again. Accepting the confession would mean a court case, which would lead to the media once again rubbing the failure’s of the Japanese government right back in their faces.

“You’re right, but I don’t have to like this.”

  


They did not talk anymore about the reappearance of a certain detective slash assassin during the entirety of their walk home. Instead, Ren tried to pry what the professors talked about in class from Morgana, who was staunchly refusing to do so unless bribed. Once they got up to the door to the apartment, just as Ren was about to slip his key in and open it, the door burst open. 

“Ren, explain!” Futaba grabbed Ren’s arm and pulled him in.

“Futaba, let me take off my shoes first,” Ren stumbled as he tried to use his free hand to start pulling off his shoes, which was quite a task considering that same hand was holding the two bags of coffee. The grip on his other armed loosened enough that he was able to free it. He didn’t have time to properly put his shoes up before Futaba dragged him over to the kitchen table. The bags were left abandoned in the entryway.

Futaba gently pushed him into a chair, and Ren finally noticed that Ryuji and Makoto were standing across the table. Makoto too? She must have come here after class instead of going home. Morgana slunk out of the bag and sat in the chair next to Ren. Ryuji had implemented a strict ‘no cats on dining surfaces’ rule that Morgana had finally learned to obey. Makoto’s arms were crossed, Ryuji leaned against the counter behind the table, Futaba had pulled out a chair across Ren and squatted in her usual position. It evoked the sense of an intervention of some sort. Futaba turned her laptop toward him. The smiling face of Akechi Goro stared back at him, the name below it reading Katsura Shouichi, listing him as a first year student.

Ren didn’t know why he was surprised Futaba had found him already. He had told them they shared a class, after all. Though, even if he hadn’t had told her, she would have found him anyway. Keeping secrets from her was nigh impossible. Ren was still bitter about the time she’d found out what he’d gotten her for Christmas through his online shopping orders. Ever since, presents were bought with cash, in person. Try hacking that, Futaba.

“It’s not like I was keeping it a secret,” Ren scratched Morgana under his chin.

“That doesn’t mean we don’t need to talk about it, Ren,” Makoto said, “Was that where you were? You were late. We were starting to think something may had happened.” She didn’t need to elaborate on what ‘something’ was.

“Yeah, I was grabbing a coffee with him. And before you say anything, Morgana was with me,” He turned toward Ryuji and Futaba, “Sorry for not telling you I’d be a bit late.”

“’S fine,” Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck, “Just a bit worried, ya know? Glad you’re good.”

“Same,” Futaba nodded.

“So,” Makoto steered the conversation back to its point, “What do you think? You said he had amnesia. Is he telling the truth?”

Ren sighed, still not looking at Makoto as he turned to focus on rubbing his cat’s ears, “Seems so. I really don’t think he’s lying about it.”

“Would you know if he was?” Makoto’s voice was steel.

“I did last time.”

Makoto shifted in place. “You’re…. not wrong,” She relented. “But we don’t know what he’s capable of. We,” She emphasized the word, “should be careful. How much have you told him?”

“Not a lot. Have a little faith in me,” He tried to let Joker show through. The fearless leader, the wildcard, the one who always made the right decision. God, he hoped he was making the right decision this time, with all of this. Grey eyes met red eyes and the temperature in the room seemed to lower.

“You know we do, man,” Ryuji broke the brief silence. Could always count on him to lighten the mood. Ren was eternally grateful for that. “If you trust it, we’ll back you up. Even if it is that rat bastard, yeah?” Ryuji’s crooked smile could melt a solid block of ice. He walked over and slapped Ren on the back. “Right, Makoto?”

“Of course,” She said, her voice clearly faking cheeriness, and Ren noticed that she seemed to be gripping her arm a bit hard. He didn’t blame her. On top of everything that Black Mask had done, he’d also killed Makoto’s girlfriend’s Father and blamed them for it. “I trust you. I need to get home. Call me if there are any developments.” With that, she grabbed her bag and headed for the door. As she was slipping her shoes on, she turned to the group, “I am glad you’re safe, Ren.” And Makoto was out of the door, out into the night. This wasn’t the end of this conversation, that much was clear. But it was the first day of Makoto’s third year of college, and she had complained that she was taking a number of higher level criminal justice courses. Ren was not looking forward to the earful he was going to get once Makoto had the energy for it. 

”So… how was your first day of college, Futaba?” Ren went to go pick up the bag of coffee tins, then began to put them on their proper shelves. Something suddenly pressed him from behind. 

“I was worried about you, you jerk,” She said into his back, “You were late and you didn’t even tell me you were gonna be,” Ah. Here came the guilt. Of course she’d be worried.

“Anything I can do to make it up to you?”

Futaba released him, “You know how to make Sojiro’s curry. I demand curry as reimbursement.” Ren laughed. He sure did.

"Ryuji, you want some?” He called into the living room where Ryuji had migrated. A family dinner sounded nice. Especially after a long day.

Cooking had always been one of Ren’s favorite things to do. He found the act itself calming. Follow the instructions, but you didn’t have to. Sometimes, a little act of rebellion, disobeying the given instructions, changing out one spice for another, cooking it at a higher heat, could entirely change the dish for the better. It helped that it was a way to keep his restless hands busy. If only there was a remedy for his mind. At the moment, it was flashing back and forth to different moments at the café. His chest felt as if it was being squeezed, but at the same time, all warm. Akechi was alive . No matter how many times he repeated it in his head, no matter how many times he kept recalling moments from at the café, he couldn’t get that out of his head. He was alive. He might not remember anything, but he was alive. And that was enough for now. Whether or not he remembered, though Ren really, really did want him to remember, Akechi was alive and back in Ren’s life again. He hadn’t killed him. It still didn’t feel real.

No matter what, Ren wasn’t going to lose him again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Makoto: be careful around him  
> Ren: i don't need to worry. You don't have all the facts.  
> Makoto: which are?  
> Ren: I love him  
> Anyway. I made a twitter. HMU [here](https://twitter.com/m1suryu)!  
> Obligatory "any critiques or complaints about issues are welcome" notice


	4. Chapter 4

Ren’s back in the interrogation room. Sae has just left. His heart is pounding so loudly he can hear the rush of his blood, feel the pulsing in his skull. It had to have worked. If it hadn’t... well. There wouldn’t be a second chance. It’s all or nothing. The leader of the Phantom Thieves had shown his hand to the prosecutor who was determined to take them down.

It is up to her now. Everything, the plan, the fate of the country, Amamiya Ren’s life, relies on her realizing what she had to do, even if she doesn’t entirely understand. Every second feels like an eternity.

The click of the door being unlocked echos throughout the nearly empty room. It’s eerily quiet. The only sounds that Ren can notice over the sound of his own heart are the buzzing of the too bright fluorescent lights and the sounds of two pairs of approaching footsteps. A police officer casually walks in, as if the teenager in the chair in front of him isn’t the most wanted criminal in Japan. At least, that’s most likely what the officer believes.

As soon as the door closes, the person who had been following the officer makes his move. It’s a blur of movement; Ren isn’t sure if it’s due to the drugs in his system dulling his senses still or if they were just that fast. The police officer raises his hands after his own gun is taken from him and pointing at him.

Akechi Goro turns to Ren, smiling. It’s the same one that has charmed all of the tv hosts, led to his amassing a army of dedicated fans.

“Sorry it took me so long. I’m here to rescue you,” He sounds just like a hero in a child’s cartoon. In that type of cartoon, he would rush over to Ren, free him, and the two would escape together. The perfect duo. The yin to Ren’s yang.

If only it were that type of cartoon.

Instead, Akechi’s smile slips, along with his mask. “Is that what you thought I’d say?” The sound of a silenced gun going off, and the officer falls to the ground dead. He presses the barrel of the gun to Ren’s forehead, eyes cold and calculating, devoid of warmth. The detective prince is shattered, only the Conspiracy’s Assassin remains. Ren’s heart beats faster and faster. The pulsing is now a gushing waterfall in his ears. The moment of truth.

“This is how your ‘justice’ ends,” Akechi sneers, “Case closed.”

Ren closes his eyes and tries to summon happy memories. If this plan fails, if Ren dies, he’ll be damned if the last thing he ever felt was soul crushing dread. No thank you.

He’s remembering Akechi eating the hot takoyaki at the Cultural Festival when the gun goes off. Ren waits. Nothing. No blood trickling down his forehead. The fact that he’s thinking anything at all is probably a fantastic sign as well. Ren starts to open his eyes. He can’t wait to see Akechi’s smug face. Smug despite the fact that he has been tricked and is none the wiser. The best kind, Ren thinks.

But it’s Akechi who is bleeding. He’s in his Black Mask outfit, but the helmet has been shattered, so that Ren can see Akechi’s entire face. Akechi’s bangs hide his eyes, but not the blood that’s flowing down, down, almost like a sick facsimile of tears.

“You killed me,” Akechi accuses, he lifts his dominant arm, gun still in hand, and points it in the direction of Ren, “This is your fault.” His voice becomes more wild and manic. “You KILLED me. YOU killed ME. This is YOUR fault,” he repeats, or rather screams, his accusations at Ren over and over, drowning out any other possible noise.

Ren panics. The chair clatters on the floor when he stands up and tries to get around the table to Akechi. Right as he’s about to grab Akechi’s arm, Akechi smiles sadly, and shoots behind Ren. The bulkhead doors rush forward with a earth shattering clang, separating the two. Another gunshot rings out from behind the solid steel. 

-  
Ren woke up with such a force that it flung Mona off the bed.

It was just a dream. Just a dream, just a dream. The dim glow of a streetlight peeked our through the blinds, barely illuminating the space around him. He wasn’t in the interrogation room, he was in in bedroom. And Akechi wasn’t here, Akechi was- 

Wait. No. He was alive. That couldn’t have been a dream too, Ren was nearly sure of it. He frantically searched for his phone in the pitch black darkness of his bedroom. Come on, where was it? His bed wasn’t even that big. Finally, he felt the smooth cold glass.

Turning it on nearly blinded him. He unlocked it so fast that he barely had time to register the time: 2:56 in the morning. Tired but urgent fingers struggled to open his contacts list.  
Morgana gracefully leapt back up onto the bed, his eyes lying all the way back on his head and his fur noticeably rustled. The cat didn’t say anything. Instead, he only laid in Ren’s lap, curling up in a ball, and began to purr. To Ren’s relief and eternal gratitude, Morgana never asked what his nightmares were about. Nor had he ever mentioned them to any of his friends, as far as Ren was aware. Bless Morgana. Good kitty.

Ren’s eyes lingered on the name at the top of the contact list. Morgana had once asked him why he hadn’t deleted it, all things considered. I just haven’t gotten around to it, Ren had claimed, shrugging it off. It totally wasn’t like he was always hoping that someday he might get a text from that very number. Or that he sometimes he was tempted to text it, in the miniscule chance that he’d get a reply back. He scrolled down. 

There it was: Katsura Shouichi. A weight lifted off of his chest. It wasn’t a dream. He switches to his messages, and the messages were still there. Where else would they have gone, a part of his brain chided. I don’t know, he tells his brain. It’s late, can he please be dragged by himself in the morning? Calmed down, he laid back down onto his back and stares at the ceiling. Morgana crawled back into his preferred place on Ren’s chest. The last thing Ren remembered before drifting back off to sleep, lulled by the sound of Mona’s purring, is that he hopes “Katsura” still remembers how to play chess. 

-

“You look like shit,” Ryuji pointed out. Ren made a noise that could either be construed as affirmation or a curse. 

“Coffee,” Ren croaked as he made a beeline for the coffeepot. No matter how many times Morgana told him to go to sleep early, that didn’t make him actually go to sleep early nor did it force him to be morning person. Though, he had to admit, the nightmare didn’t exactly help him sleep well. 

“Wow. Rude,” Futaba stole one of Ryuji’s eggs from his plate, earning a cry of protest from her roommate. “Penalty for rudeness.”

“You’re one to talk,” Ryuji tried to grab one of Futaba’s eggs in revenge, but only received a fork jabbed into his hand.

“Nyeheheh, try again noob.”

Ren, still not entirely sentient, went through the motions of making his coffee. Muscle memory was a hell of a thing. Completely unaware of the bickering of his roommates at the table behind him, he watched the coffee drip into the cup, almost in a trance. Did it always take that long to make coffee, or was he just especially tired that morning? Ren didn’t have the brain power to think about it.

“-en. Ren!” Futaba’s voice broke through his sleep-deprived stupor. He made a noise of acknowledgement. His cup was almost full; he couldn’t turn away. He was so, so close. She seemed to pick up that he was, somewhat, paying attention, and continued, “Ryuji was asking if you were still on for lunch, since we’re all free.” The last drop of the black liquid had barely hit the surface before Ren grabbed the piping hot cub and began to down it.

“Hm? Yeah sure,” He mumbled, not entirely sure what he agreed to. Oh well. Whatever it was, Morgana could probably tell him later. Hopefully. He continued to drink in the bitter bean juice that he was considering his lifeline.

“For real, though, man,” Ryuji piped up, “You sure you’re good?”

“Coffee,” Ren repeated, but this time lifting his cup to show Ryuji. Futaba looked up from her phone.

“Coffee,” She nodded, sagely. Ryuji looked between the two.

“Am I missing something?” He shoved another egg in his mouth. Morgana hopped onto the one of the empty chairs.

“You know he’s not a morning person,” Morgana chided. “Thought you were at least smart enough to pick that up.”

Ryuji pointed his fork at the cat, “Shut it cat. I’m just checkin’ on him.” He turned toward his friend, who was now heading back to his room. “Don’t forget ‘bout lunch!” He called as Ren closed the door to his room.

\--  


Ren was leaving his class when his phone started buzzing.

“Where are you headin’ for lunch?” Ryuji asked on the other end, not even giving Ren time to say hello.

“Uh…” What? “I guess just the cafeteria?”

“Great! Futaba’s already there, I’ll meet you there,” Ryuji hung up before Ren was able to ask what was going on.

“You totally forgot, didn’t you,” Morgana popped out of the bag, resting his paws on Ren’s shoulder.

“No,” Ren said, defensively. A long pause.

“Yes.” He admitted.

“You’re meeting Ryuji and Futaba for lunch,” Ren couldn’t see Morgana’s face at the moment, but he could hear Morgana rolling his eyes. “You better get going.”

“And you could have reminded me,” Ren feigned betrayal.

“

I just did! Now go! I hope they have fish.”

  


Futaba was alone at a table near the center of the cafeteria, laptop in front of her, when Ren found her. Completely entranced by whatever was on the screen, she didn’t notice Ren’s approach, nor did she notice when Ren dropped off the Mona bag in one of the empty chairs, nor did she even hear Mona when he requested (more demanded, if Ren was being honest) Ren grab him some fish. Ren didn’t mind though, it was something he was used to, and it was just one of her quirks. Over the summer, he and Ryuji had had a contest to see how much they could get away with before she snapped out of it. They’d gotten to stacking various objects on top of her head before Morgana had reminded Ren had once cleaned her entire room, with her in it, and she hadn’t even noticed until she was done with what she was doing. The two had then given up. 

Ren had just sat down at the table after returning when Ryuji slammed his own tray down next to him.

“It’s only been one day, but I can already tell my physiology class is going to suck” Ryuji loudly lamented, “The professor was already talkin’ about how we’ve got a paper due Friday, an’ I know it’s an upper level course, but c’mon man, give us a break, we just started.” He began shoveling rice into his mouth.

“Oh! A wild Joker and Skull appeared!” Futaba seemed to have finally noticed that the others had arrived. “When did that happen?”

“He just got here,” Ren handed a small piece of fried fish to Morgana, who meowed in delight, “What were you working on? Second day of class go well so far?”

“Hm? Ye. Classes are easy mode though,” She closed the laptop, shoving it off to the side, then pulled her plate closer to her, “It’s all stuff I learned when I was like, thirteen. And my security class is gonna mention Medjed, so that’s gonna be fun.”

“Don’t you already know all the stuff you need to about that kinda stuff?” Ryuji pointed out. “Considering the whole,” He leaned in, and whispered, “being Alibaba thing?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s a required class, sooo,” Futaba slid a piece of her fish to Morgana, who wolfed it down. “What about you?” She turned to Ren.

“Teachers are still taking it pretty easy. I’m lucky that I don’t have Ryu-“ Ren stopped, noticing that Futaba had frozen, staring at something behind him. Ryuji seemed to have noticed as well, as he followed Futaba’s line of sight, and then froze as well. Ren was getting a bad feeling about this. But part of his knew what was going on before he turned around, as a voice spoke out. 

“Amamiya- ah, no, sorry, Ren. I didn’t realize you’d be here as well,” Akechi beamed.

Ren couldn’t decide if this was good luck or bad luck. His heart was hammering in his chest, but from the anticipation or joy of seeing him again or if it was anxiety on how his friends would react, he wasn’t sure.

“A- Katsura,” He cursed himself for almost slipping up on the names again. He really had to get better about that. “Stalking me?” Ren winked.

“Hardly,” Akechi stood behind him, holding his tray, “I feel I could ask you the same.”

“I was here first.”

“You could be playing the long con. This is the only cafeteria on campus after all. In theory, you could have deduced I’d be eating lunch here.”

“You’re giving me an awful lot of credit, detec-“ Ren stopped himself. That wouldn’t make sense to him. Akechi raised a questioning eyebrow, as if daring Ren to continue. Only then did he appear to notice the other people at the table.

“Oh, hello. I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Katsura Shouichi. Pleased to meet you,” He said, looking between the dumbfounded Futaba and Ryuji. Ren could hear the heartbeat pounding in his ears, feel it pounding in his chest. 

“Is it alright if I sit here?” Akechi directed his attention back to Ren.

“Of course,” Ren started to move Morgana out of the spare chair at the table, but paused, turned to his friends, who still looked in shock, “Um, if it’s okay with Ryuji and Futaba, of course.”

“Uh…if Ren says its fine, it’s fine with me,” Ryuji sputtered out, still starting at Akechi. “Futaba?”

Futaba nodded soundlessly, pulled out her phone, and began furiously typing. Ren motioned toward the now empty chair. Akechi nodded his thanks and sat down. 

“So, um, you two are friends with Ren, I presume?” It was weird to see Akechi so uncomfortable. Ren couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him so visibly so. Ren couldn’t lie, it was a bit fun to watch. Akechi turned to Ryuji. “Are. Are you alright?”

“You really don’t remember shit, do you?” Ryuji leaned forward, studying the former hitman’s face. Akechi awkwardly laughed.

“Not a thing about myself, no. I’ll take that to mean that you knew me as well, then.”

“Sure did,” Ryuji leaned back, turning his attention to Ren, “Is he still a dick?”

“I can hear, you know,” Akechi protested indignantly.

“Don’t know yet,” Ren shrugged. “You could ask him yourself.”

“Hey Ake- wait, what did you say your name was?” Ryuji asked.

“Katsura,” Akechi’s voice was dripping with contempt. “Is your friend always this terribly rude?”

“That’s rich comin’ from you,” Ryuji scoffed. “Seems you are still a dick then, huh.”

Ren had to smile to himself. It was almost like old times, the two of them going at each other’s throats. It did give him a bit of hope that maybe Akechi did remember something, subconsciously at least, since he seemed to dislike Ryuji right off the bat. Either that, or ‘Katsura’ just didn’t hide his emotions as much as Akechi did as the Detective Prince, but Ren really, really hoped it more of a hint of remembrance. Though, he was still torn on whether or not it would be better for Akechi to remember or not.

But… if he remembered on his own, that wouldn’t be Ren’s fault, would it? 

The buzzing of his phone in his pocket startled him enough that he jumped. Glancing at it, he noticed there multiple new messages in the chat. Huh. He must’ve not noticed it going off. That was weird. Ren normally considered himself more observant than that.

-  
Futaba: its so weird!!!  
Futaba: he looks like akechi, walks like akechi, kinda talks like akechi but doesnt call himself akechi  
Futaba: but hes still flirting with ren so he probably still is crow lmao  
Makoto: You met him?  
Futaba: hes eating lunch with us right now  
Futaba: now hes arguing with ryuji  
Futaba: i think ryuji’s losing  
Ren: I wasn’t lying about the amnesia thing  
Ren: And we weren’t flirting.  
Futaba: uhuh. sure.  
-  


Ren slipped his phone back into his pocket, rolling his eyes. Yeah, Ren admitted he might have been trying to flirt, but there's no way that 'Katsura' would reciprocate. It's not like, as far as the amnesiac was aware, they knew each other like that.

"You really are insufferable," The former detective frowned.

"Says the guy that blackmailed us once," Ryuji went back to focusing on his food. Akechi looked taken aback.

"I did what?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the biggest fan of the anime, but I do kinda prefer the interrogation room betrayal scene there. Sorry for cutting it off there, but will try my best to update it again sometime this weekend! And thank you again for all the kind comments, they really mean quite a lot. Not the happiest with this chapter but oh well


	5. Chapter 5

Ren loved Ryuji, he really did. He would say Ryuji was like a brother to him, but that felt like it would downplay their relationship. Platonic soulmates sounded a bit better, maybe even two halves of the same whole. Ryuji had been with him from the very beginning, with that accidental escapade into Kamoshida’s heart, to shooting a goddamn god in the head, to taking down their school’s therapist as he tried to replace reality itself. They’d been through the best and the worst together, helped each other through their issues. They even lived together now. Ren honestly couldn’t imagine life without him.  


In this moment, however, Ren wanted to strangle him. 

Futaba looked up from her phone, her fingers paused over the screen mid-type. Akechi looked taken aback. Ryuji was still shoveling rice into his mouth. The silence at the table was deafening. 

Ryuji finally appeared to notice the eyes of everyone at the table boring into him. He froze. “What?”

“Good going, skull,” Futaba’s eyes flicked between Ryuji and Akechi.

“What?” Ryuji repeated. “He did.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t remember that,” She pointed out. “At least, he and Ren say so, anyway.”

“Sku-? Wait, so I did blackmail someone?” Akechi turned away from Ryuji, eyes pleading with Ren, “I blackmailed you?”

Shit. Ren was planning on maybe at least breaking it to him that he was that celebrity that had gone missing those few years back, and then maybe starting on their history together. Starting with him having blackmailed the Phantom Thieves in order to steal the heart of one of the member’s sister, all the while using that as a cover to assassinate Ren wasn’t really where Ren had wanted to start this whole conversation. Maybe there was a way to turn it around? He was really going to have to have a talk with Ryuji when they got home. Ryuji had gotten better about yelling out things in public, though it wasn’t like there was much to keep secret from the world nowadays, other than the dating lives of their famous model friend and their billionaire heiress friend, but he was still a bit impulsive. Ren wouldn’t change Ryuji for the world, don’t get him wrong. But sometimes, sometimes Ren wished Ryuji would play his cards a bit closer to his chest. 

“Yeah,” Ren sighed, “Yeah, you did.” Gears turned in his brain. How to get out of it. He wasn’t going to outright lie to Akechi. No more lies.

Half-truths, however, were fair game.

“I- what? That doesn’t really feel like something I would do, though…” Akechi trailed off, no longer looking at Ren, instead staring down at the food that lay untouched on his tray. “Why?”

“Why what?” Ren placed his elbow on the table, then leaned his head on his raised hand. Play it cool, Joker.

Akechi’s eyes turned away from the food, meeting Ren’s, no longer pleading. There was something in those depths that Ren couldn’t quite discern.

“

Why did I blackmail you?” The voice was still that light mix that Ren had come to associate with his amnesiac rival-slash-friend, but something of the Akechi he had come to lo- to know was sneaking out under it, that annoyance at something that should be so obvious, but Ren just wasn’t getting it. 

“Oh. Yeah. Uh,” Ren sputtered. He was certainly starting to run out of time. “You wanted to join our friend group in high school, but we wouldn’t let you.” A wry smile. “Well, I wasn’t entirely against it, but you know how things go.” Please let that be enough. Please let him just take it at face value, not ask anymore questions, and-

“What did I blackmail you with?” Akechi was now mirroring Ren, his head in his right hand. Of course he’d follow up on it. Once a detective, always a detective. Ren only prayed that he had taken Ren’s explanation at face value. 

“Pictures,” Futaba said simply, having returned to her phone and no longer observing anyone at the table. Ren would have to thank her later. Maybe he’d make curry for everyone again tonight. Ryuji might complain about having the same thing two days in a row, but Futaba wouldn’t, and frankly, based on Ryuji’s slip up, not having Ren make dinner for the three of them tonight wouldn’t be the worst punishment in the world.

“Pictures? Of what?”

Ren’s turn. “Crime.” He winked.

“Crime?” Akechi raised an eyebrow. “You all… did crime?”

“No, no, no. We did crime. You did join us, after all.”

Akechi dramatically rolled his eyes. “I highly doubt that.”

“What? You wound me,” Ren feigned offense.

“Ren, I might have amnesia, but I wasn’t born yesterday. You really expect me to believe that I blackmailed you, with evidence of your alleged crimes, to join your friend group?” Akechi’s eyes didn’t one stray from Ren’s own. “And it worked?”

“Well, there was a bit more to it than that,” Ren leaned back in his chair, “But, yeah, that’s the gist.” 

“You’re fucking with me.” A small smile crept into the corner of Akechi’s mouth, despite the clear efforts he was taking to hide it. Those red-brown eyes felt like they were peering deep into Ren. The way they studied him… Ren suspected that Akechi might not actually believe what his mouth was saying. That wasn’t exactly new; even when Akechi stopped hiding what he felt, he still hid some things, some knowledge. Could it be that he didn’t trust Ryuji, or if even if he didn’t entirely remember, he still wasn’t entirely fond of Ren’s friend? Ren also suspected that he was going to have to deal with a lot more questions later, likely when there wasn’t anyone around. “You really are quite fascinating, Amamiya Ren.” 

Ren could feel the tips of his ears starting to burn, his cheeks grow a bit warm. He wasn’t a high schooler anymore, get it together. He coughed awkwardly, broke eye contact. “I’m not, but okay.” He shoved a spoonful of soup into his mouth. 

“But, say you’re not actually fucking with me,” Akechi sat up, arms crossed across his chest. “What were these alleged ‘crimes’ you committed?” 

Ren kept sipping at his soup. Can’t speak with a mouthful of soup. And if he can’t speak, he can’t answer questions that involve himself implicating yourself as one of the Phantom Thieves that swept the nation a few years back. 

”Did you hear me or are you just ignoring me?” No response from Ren. “That’s awfully childish you know.” 

“Again,” Ryuji pointed out, between bites of food, “Rich comin’ from you.”

“Glass houses, Ryuji,” Futaba didn’t look up from her phone.

“Ren? Ren.” Akechi ignored Ryuji’s comment. “You know avoiding the question makes me think it is far worse than it actually was.”

Ren kept sipping his soup.

“Ren yo-“

“Oh,” Makoto’s voice came from behind Ren, “You’re all still here. Good.” Without asking, in a single movement she pulled an empty chair from a nearby table, positioned it next to Futaba, and sat down. “It’s much nicer to eat with friends than alone.” She pulled a cute Buchimaru themed lunchbox from her bag. 

Akechi gave Ren a look that said ‘We’ll talk about this later’ before turning to Makoto. “I don’t believe we’ve met; I’m Kat-“

“Katsura Shouichi. First year.” Makoto’s voice was as even as an icy lake. “And we have.” 

The former detective’s smile was placid, just as it had always been on tv. A simple, charming smile that betrayed none of the intent behind it. Ren was sure that he had practiced it in front of the mirror many times; guessed that skill remained as well. But Ren knew his rival well enough where to look, no matter how often Akechi had argued that his Detective Prince façade was perfect. The eyes always betrayed him. Subtle enough that very few were able to pick up on it, but Ren could. 

At that moment, a flicker of the familiar annoyance burned deep in those eyes. 

“I see,” His voice was still placid, “I do apologize, then.” A pause. “I don’t think I caught your name…?” 

“I didn’t give it.” Makoto said, voice still icy. The temperature at the table felt like it was dropping by the moment. Neither of the two seemed to be willing to back down; Makoto sizing up Akechi, cold and clearly distrusting, and Akechi doing his best to keep up the appearance of pleasantness but the mask was starting to crack ever so slightly. 

It was Ryuji who broke the stalemate between them. “So…uh… your classes starting out okay?” He directed to question to Makoto. She seemed a bit reluctant to be the first to look away, but did so anyway.

“Oh, you know how it is,” Her voice was noticeably warmer, back to normal, “Most of my professors are the same from last year.” To Futaba, “Is that a new computer?”

Futaba perked up. “Finally someone noticed! Sojiro let me buy it for getting into college. Isn’t she beautiful?” She then proceeded to begin to list of different specs and system features. Makoto was clearly lost, but did her best to engage in the conversation.

While the two were having their discussion, or rather, while Futaba talked and Makoto did her best to understand, Ren turned to Akechi.

“Don’t worry about it,” He whispered, “She’ll probably warm up.”

“I very much doubt that,” Akechi paused. “She doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

“That’s not really new, if that helps.”

“Not really,” He chuckled quietly. “I know I’ve not been here long, but I’m going to take my leave.”

“Hm? Why?”

“I do have a class I need to get to.” By the way his eyes flitted to Makoto, Ren suspected his need to get to class on time wasn’t the only reason.

"Text me later?”

Something Ren couldn’t exactly pinpoint flickered across Akechi’s face, “Of course.” He gathered up his not completely eaten food and bag, “I’ll see you around.” And with that, he was gone. 

“Sorry ‘bout that man,” Ryuji said, after Akechi was surely out of earshot. Makoto was still being held hostage by Futaba. “He really can’t remember shit, huh.” 

“You didn’t believe me?”

“Nah, I did. But,” Ryuji shifted uncomfortably, “Well, you know.” Ren raised an eyebrow, indicating that, no, he did not know. Ryuji took a breath, “I dunno, I guess maybe I thought he was playin’ you or somethin’.”

Ren did his best to ignore what Ryuji was implying. “So you believe me now?”

“Uh-huh. He’s either playin’ all of us, or he’s really got it.” Ryuji glanced at one of the plates in front of Ren. “You gonna eat that?”

Wordlessly, Ren slid the plate over.

“You’re the best."

Makoto finally looked up and noticed that there was now one less person at their table. At the change in Makoto’s expression, Futaba looked around as well.

“When’d Crow leave?” Futaba asked.

“About two minutes ago,” Mona popped his head out of Ren’s bag. “Ren, where’s my fish?” 

”Morgana’s here?” Makoto appeared surprised. 

”Does Ren go anywhere without the cat?” said Ryuji through bites of food.

“He’s not wrong,” Futaba agreed.

Makoto handed the cat a piece of chicken from her lunchbox. “Is it alright if we meet in your apartment tonight? We really have to discuss everything going on with… him.”

Now it was Ren’s turn to shift a bit uncomfortably. He didn’t know why. He knew this was coming. Of course they’d all deal with it together. Rubbing the back of his neck, Ren said, “Sure. I’ll see Yusuke can make it. I don’t know what to do about Ann and Sumi, though.” 

“Eh, we can just call ‘em,” Futaba was back on her phone.

“Well, it’s a plan, then. After everyone’s done with class, we will all convene at your apartment.”

\--  


Because Ren’s classes were the last ones to let out of everyone else’s in the group, by the time he arrived back at the apartment, everyone who was able to be there, already was. Haru and Makoto were side by side on the couch with Futaba on the end, the large red Phantom Thief flag that Ren had acquired back in high school hung on the wall behind them. Yusuke lounged in one of the chairs, and Ryuji was in the other. Futaba had set up a conference call on her laptop with Sumire and Ann. Something about the atmosphere felt a bit heavy. All of the people turned when he walked into the living room. 

“Whoa, am I having an intervention?” Ren joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood, as he let Morgana out of the bag.

“Yes,” Futaba’s voice was gravely serious, “I’ve noticed some of my snacks have gone missing. Ren. You have a problem.”

“How do you know it wasn’t Morgana?” Ren feigned offense.

“No thumbs,” Futaba wriggled her fingers in demonstration.

“He can lockpick, though…” Ann’s voice came from the computer.

“He can?” Sumire, also from the computer, asked. “That’s very impressive, Morgana!” 

Makoto cleared her throat. Everyone quieted down, immediately brought to attention. “I think you know what this is all about.” 

“You’re all sure it’s him?” There was a hint of hope in Sumire’s voice.

“Ren seems quite sure,” Yusuke nodded, “I believe him.”

“Ryuji, Futaba, and I met him today,” Makoto began, “It’s certainly him. And he appears to be telling the truth about the amnesia.” She laced her fingers with Haru’s, “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep our guard up.”

“So we should just avoid him?” Ryuji asked. “Cuz, you know, I wouldn’t mind.”

“That might be a bit difficult seeing as he knows us now,” Makoto pointed out. “I do think it would be best if we didn’t interact with him more than we need to. If he gets his memories back, it might be a bit difficult for everyone.”

“But if you keep an eye on him,” Ann spoke up, “it’d be a lot easier to figure out if or when he gets his memories back.”

“But being around him might bring them back,” Yusuke posited, “Though it has been four years. One would think if he was going to get them back, he would have at least gotten some back by then.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t seem to remember anything when I told him he’d blackmailed us,” Ryuji said. Everyone turned to stare at him.

“You did what?” Makoto’s eyes narrowed. “When did this happen?”

“It wasn’t a big de-“

“At lunch,” Futaba interrupted. “Before you came. Ren covered it though. The amnesia stuff really seems legit. Didn’t seem to spark anything.” Everyone else seemed to relax a bit, but Makoto was still glaring daggers at Ryuji.

“What would you have done if he had remembered?”

“Well,” Ryuji defended himself, “That didn’t happen, so it’s nothing we need to worry about, yeah?”

“Makoto’s right,” Morgana hopped up on the coffee table, next to the computer, his tail swishing, “You really need to work on your impulse control.”

“Shut up.”>

As the group continued to debate how much contact they should have with their amnesiac kind-of-former-teammate, if any at all, it didn’t escape Ren’s notice that Haru wasn’t joining in. She sat completely still, face unreadable, fingers laced into Makoto’s. He wanted to say something, but what was there to say? 

“Ren, what do you think?” All eyes were on him as Makoto asked.

“Hm, about what?”

“Dude,” A sigh from Ryuji, “Pay attention.”

“Sorry. What do I think about what?”

“Makoto was sayin’ that we probably shouldn’t hang out with him alone. Just in case of stuff.”

“You do remember I have a class with him, right?” By the expressions on everyone’s face, it seemed that little fact had slipped their minds. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. Besides, I have Mona with me.”

“He’s not wrong,” Ann agreed.

“And, to be honest, I don’t think he’ll do anything,” Ren continued, “He didn’t try anything in Maruki’s palace.”

“He shot you Ren.” The evenness of Makoto’s voice was the kind that came when someone was doing their best to keep everything under control, like the calm before a storm, but one could still hear the thunder rumble in the distance.

“And you can trust me that I can handle myself.” Ren countered. “He probably doesn’t even have a gun anymore.”

“Probably” Futaba said. “I’m on your side though. If Ren says he can handle it, he can handle it. Besides, it’s not like we can ask him to drop the class.”

“I do agree that we should be careful about what we say to him,” Sumire said, “He may react badly if it comes back too fast.” She paused. “Oh, I’m sorry! I have to leave. I have practice early in the morning and it’s getting very late. Bye!” She hung up before her friends had a chance to all say goodbye.

“With Sumire gone, it would be best if we were to table this conversation for another time,” Yusuke offered, “We have come to an agreement that we should be careful. But, I do trust Ren.” He stood up. “It’s not too late, but I almost must leave. It is bit of a commute to my dorm.” 

“Talk to you guys soon!” Ann cheerily said before hanging up.

“Haru and I should head out as well,” Makoto slipped her bag onto her shoulder. “What do you think?”

Haru nodded. As she was heading to the door, she stopped in front of Ren, speaking for the first time that night.

“I know you and Akechi were…. close. And I know that he didn’t entirely have a choice in what he did. But Ren, he did kill my father.” Ren flinched. “I can’t forgive him for that.” She paused. “Just… be careful, Ren.” She brushed her hand against his arm, then was out of the door.

The three roommates and the cat sat in silence in the apartment for a few long moments. Only the sounds of a distant car rattling down the street and the slamming of a door somewhere in the complex were heard. No one knew what to say. No one knew if there was anything to say. Ren suspected that the other three had heard what Haru said. And what were any of them supposed to say after that? How do you follow that up? 

At long last, Ren broke the silence.

“Anyone want to grab take out tonight? Or should I make curry again?”

“Curry!” Futaba threw her arms up. “Curry is always the best choice!”

“Ughhh,” moaned Ryuji, “We had curry last night.”

“Then curry it is,” Ren started towards the kitchen. At Ryuji’s noise of protest, he reminded him, “You did spill to the amnesiac that he blackmailed us.” And there was no follow up protest.

  


Ren was chopping the onions when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the simmering pot. Yeah, he should have enough time to check. There was a single new message.

From Akechi. Or rather, Not-Akechi.

Ren’s heart skipped a beat.

‘Coffee tomorrow night?’ it read.

‘Are you asking me on a date?’ Ren typed back. He added a winking face. Can never be too careful. The next message took a bit longer to come. He was starting to get worried that maybe he had gone too far, maybe the verbal sparring he had with Akechi wouldn’t work with amnesiac Akechi.

‘Yes.’ Was all that Akechi said in his reply. Ren almost dropped his phone.

‘Of course.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out, and sorry it's still fairly short. This week has been.... a lot. Hopefully since now I just have to play the waiting game with IRL stuff, I should be able to actually have, you know, free time for a bit.  
> Also, just in case anyone was curious. Akechi's fake name comes from a member of The Boys Detective Club, from the series of the same name by Edogawa Ranpo. Why that series? Well, uh. The founder was Kogoro Akechi. *shrug* Just trying to be overly witty I guess lol and felt proud enough to point it out.  
> Anyway, I'm finally past some of the stuff I was having issue writing, and this chapter was a bit tough for some reason, so if the quality dipped, I do greatly apologize, and hope to fix that in future chapters. Again, thanks for reading! Will try to get the next chapter up on Monday, but next week by midnight *at the latest* unless something comes up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying out a new formatting thing, hoping it's easier to read. If it is, let me know and I may go back and edit the other chapters and keep it up. If not, I'll go back to the other way. Hope you enjoy :)

Sleep did not come easy that night. One might have thought it would, considering the events of the day before, but if anything, that made it far more difficult. Ren’s head was far too full of far too many thoughts. Every time he closed his eyes, tried his best to fall asleep, the events of the day kept replaying in his mind. The discussion with all his friends, his date tomorrow with Akechi 

His date tomorrow. 

Ren smiled to himself in the darkness of his room. He had a date tomorrow.

Though, Ren wouldn’t explicitly say it was a first date, he’d considered quite a few of those nights at the jazz club ‘dates’, even if Akechi, his Akechi, the one without amnesia, the one who would remember those, would scoff at the notion. Ren had always suspected he had counted those as well, though any time Ren would ‘joke’ about it, Akechi would just roll his eyes and tell him to get over himself. But there would always be a slight tug at the corner of his mouth when he said it. 

His smile slipped when he realized that he was going to have to come up with some excuse as to why he was going to be home late tomorrow night, but also preferably a good reason to leave Morgana at home during that time. He could leave him at home all day, the neighbors had become well enough acquainted with the cat that they wouldn’t call animal control. Would Mona actually accept being left home alone all day without making a fuss? Ren guessed he could maybe pass him off to Futaba between classes, then run home to change before he met up with Akechi at the coffee shop. Or he could just drop the cat off at home, though Morgana might try to tag along anyway. Wouldn’t be the first time Morgana had followed him somewhere without him knowing. Ah, well. It was no big deal; he had plenty of time during class, before his date to figure it out. 

Oh shit. He had class tomorrow.

\--

While having a cup of actually good coffee helped, dragging himself to class was still a monumental effort. He hadn’t had to deal with Futaba and Morgana arguing late into the night like he had the other night, but his brain hadn’t been very cooperative in helping him get to sleep. He really had debated on not coming to class, but he figured he would give himself a week or two of perfect attendance before he started skipping classes. If he started skipping. 

Ren’s tossing and turning all night had kept Morgana up, a fact he was only aware of due to the cat’s moaning about it all morning. Only a bit of sushi from the convenience store on the way to his first class had sated him, if only a little. Enough that he was now sleeping softly in the bag at least, though Ren did get a noise of discontent every time he moved the bag a bit too roughly. 

He came early enough the no one was in his seat. Not that they had assigned seats per say, but it was the universal unspoken rule that since he had sat in that chair the first day of class, it was his chair now. Even if some people didn’t get that clue. And Ren really wasn’t in the mood to have to deal with that this morning. 

Today was going to be a good day, Ren attempted to will into existence. He didn’t have a super tough schedule today and he had his date later. Today was going to be good. Today had to be good. If he repeated it to himself enough times, it had to come true right? That was the deal with cognition-metaverse stuff, wasn’t it?

“Rough morning?” A voice far too cheery for how early it was in the morning asked. Oh. Ren forgot he shared this class with him. How did he forget? God, how tired was he?

“Of course you’re a morning person,” Ren grumbled, downing another sip of his bitter ambrosia. Akechi snorted. Ren gave him a glare at that. “What gave it away?” 

“You look like shit,” Again, still in a voice far too awake and aware for this early in the morning. 

“You’re insufferable,” Ren groaned. “Has anyone ever told you that?” 

”I suspect you have.”

”You suspect correctly,” Ren tried to take another sip of coffee, but only received a drop. Oh, how cruel the world was. He turned to Akechi, who was positively glowing. Ren had never met up with Akechi in the morning back when he lived in LeBlanc, but somehow, he wasn’t surprised he was a morning person. Presuming that that was an Akechi attribute and not something he had picked up since he lost his memories. 

Akechi laughed. “I do hope you’re in a better mood tonight.” His eyes issued a challenge. “It would be terrible if I was the only one actually up to it tonight.” 

“I’m not a morning person,” Ren pulled the top off of his travel cup in a desperate attempt to see if somehow gravity had played a joke on him. Alas, it was still empty. He’d have to buy more after class. 

“I can see that,” Akechi’s eyes followed the professor as he walked in and began setting up at the desk at the front of the lecture hall, “You’re still up for it, though, I hope? Tonight?” 

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Ren finally met Akechi’s eyes, “Assuming you still are, that is.” 

”I’m not the one who looks ready to collapse at a moment’s notice.” 

”We could change that.”

”Oh?” A raised eyebrow, a dare. “And how would that happen?” 

Before Ren could reply, the professor loudly cleared his throat, signaling to his students to quiet down. A wave of people stopping their conversations rippled throughout the lecture hall. 

”Good morning class,” The professor began, casually leaning on the wooden desk. No response other than a cacophony of grunts of acknowledgements and one or two overly cheerful echoes of the professor’s statement. “Not the response I was looking for, but I’ll take it.” A pause. “As noted on your syllabus, I’ll be giving you the details on your semester project next week, so please do try to at least pay attention to these first couple of lectures. “ 

Ren failed.

Yes, the professor said it was important that Ren listen. Yes, Ren was very aware that it was very important that he listen. If only someone had informed Ren’s brain of that fact. No matter how hard he tried to pay attention, his mind wandered literally everywhere except to paying attention to the lecture. His eyes kept wandering to glance at the person dutifully taking notes next to him. Which didn’t do anything to help anchor his mind to the lecture. 

”Do you ever actually pay attention in class?” Akechi snidely remarked after class. 

”Would you believe me if I told you I was an honor student in high school?” Ren countered. 

”Absolutely not.”

Ren shrugged. “I’m telling the truth but whatever.” He gently rearranged the bag on his shoulder, careful not to wake up his sleeping friend, “I’ll see you tonight?” 

”I’ll meet you at the shop,” Akechi flashed a smile and waved, his other hand momentarily brushing against Ren’s before he disappeared among the crowds. 

Ren gently rubbed his thumb over the spot where the other man’s hand had momentarily lingered, still feeling the remnant of his touch. He almost didn’t hear Morgana when he struggled to push his head, then his upper torso, out of the bag. 

”What was that about?” He yawned. Ren reached up and scratched the cat behind his ears. “Hey! Don’t try to change the subject!” A pause. “But don’t stop.” He began to purr. 

”Don’t worry about it,” Ren made his way to a bench under a tree in a nearby courtyard, setting the bag down so that Morgana could wriggle his way out. He pulled out his phone to message Futaba. 

-  
Ren: Futaba have I ever told you that you’re the best kind-of sister ever and I love you  
Futaba: u have but u know i always love hearing it (:  
Ren: Then you’re the best kind-of sister ever and I love you  
Futaba: i know.  
Futaba: what do u want  
Ren: What makes you think I want anything?  
Futaba: …  
Ren: Fine  
Ren: Can you take Morgana?  
Ren: Just for today  
Ren: I can meet you outside class to drop him off  
Ren: I know he can fit in your bag  
Futaba: ok but why  
Ren: Ive got something later tonight and idk if I can drop him off at home  
Futaba: a thing?  
Ren: Futaba pLEASE  
Ren: I’ll owe you  
Futaba: hmmm tempting  
Futaba: ok deal  
Futaba: remember that you owe me  
-  


”Wait, what thing?” Morgana said, looking at the conversation between Ren and Futaba, as the latter sent the location of the class she was currently in. “You didn’t tell me you had a thing tonight.”

”You don’t know everything about me,” Ren tried to reach up to pet Morgana, but the cat artfully dodged the attempt. 

”Don’t worry, Mona,” Ren tried to reach again to pet him but once more caught only air as Morgana jumped off the bench, out of Ren’s reach. Morgana’s glare was ice cold. He sighed. “It’s a date alright?” The cat’s ears perked up. “You can’t tell anyone, alright?” 

Morgana’s tail swished. “A date? With who? And why can’t I tell anyone?”

”I’m allowed some secrets, aren’t I?” Ren leaned back on the bench and stared up at the blue sky and clouds through the tree’s leaves, “I don’t think it’s good manners to bring a cat with you on a first date if your date isn’t expecting it. Probably.” I mean, who didn’t like cats? Though Ren couldn’t exactly say that he didn’t want to bring Morgana not only because Morgana probably wouldn’t exactly approve of his partner for the aforementioned date, but also because he didn’t want to find out tonight if Akechi could still hear him. “And you can’t tell anyone because I’d never hear the end of it.” 

”That’s not true.”

Ren glanced back down to the cat, doubt etched on his face, an eyebrow raised. 

”That’s probably true.” Morgana relented. When Makoto and Haru had (finally) started dating, Ryuji, Futaba, and Ann were relentless in asking for every detail on how the confession went. And when Ann had told everyone that she had confessed to Mika, and had been promptly rejected, after consoling her, Haru, Futaba, and Ryuji had pressed for details. If they were all that bold on asking Makoto for such personal details (even though Haru had been kind to share), Ren couldn’t even imagine what kind of questions he would get. And if they found out it was a date with Akechi Freaking Goro, he’d probably have to deal with some choice words on top of that. 

“You’ll be careful, right?” Morgana asked. 

”Aren’t I always?” Ren said. Morgana hadn’t figured out who he was seeing, had he? He didn’t like keeping secrets from Morgana, but it seemed like the best option in this scenario. 

”Hm.” Morgana jumped back up onto the bench, next to Ren. “You owe me sushi.”

”For what?”

”Abandoning me.”

”I’m not-. Alright. Fine. There’s a shop on campus, c’mon.”

-  


Ren stood outside of the café that Akechi had chosen, eyes darting between his phone and the place in front of him. This was the right place, wasn’t it? The name and address certainly matched up. He peeked through the café’s large front window, but didn’t see Akechi sitting at any of the tables. That surprised him. Normally it was Akechi who was at any given meeting spot first; not only had he always been on time, but was always even early. Ren wasn’t entirely sure what to do in situations like this. He was never the first one anywhere, except maybe when he was going places with Yusuke, but those were very different situations than the one he was in right now. 

Maybe he shouldn’t have left Mona at home. He always knew what to do. Or, well, he always at least had something to say. Which, while not always helpful, or appreciated, would have at least given Ren some semblance of an idea on what to do. Did he just walk in? Go ahead and get a table? Or would it be better to enter together?

Was Ren overthinking? Why was he overthinking?

He moved out of the way of a couple of patrons trying to enter the café, nodding his apologies. Should he message Akechi, tell him he was there?

”Oh my apologies, Ren,” Akechi said, coming to a stop next to Ren. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.” He looked slightly out of breath. And was wearing… actually vaguely fashionable clothes. Maybe vaguely fashionable was the wrong word, but it wasn’t an outfit that looked more at home on an old man than a young kinda-idol, so really, anything was an improvement over that. Simply a nice dress shirt and darks jeans. Still no gloves. Why would there be? It’s not like he had any reason to wear them now. But it was still weird for Ren to see his bare hands. “Ren?”

Oh shit. Had he been staring? “Uh…no you’re fine. Just got here,” Ren hoped that that had saved it. Real smooth, he chided himself. “Should we uh, should we go in?” 

Akechi beamed. “After you,” He pulled open the door and motioned for Ren to step in.

The café was a bit fancier than the ones that Ren often visited, with fancier mood lighting, fancier plush chairs. Just… fancier all around. Though, to Ren’s pleasant surprise when he saw the prices of the food and drink, not as expensive as he thought it would be. Still more expensive than Ren would like, but nothing that would make him have to revise his weekly budget. He followed Akechi to the counter.

”I’ll pay this time,” Akechi winked, as Ren started to pull out his wallet.

”What? Are you sure?” Ren asked. He overdramatically squinted his eyes in faux suspicion. “Are you trying to bribe me?” Akechi didn’t answer, only winked again and smiled. “Don’t ignore me.”

”What do you want?” Akechi said, ignoring Ren. “I’ll go ahead.” And he placed an overly complicated order for a coffee that Ren only barely followed, even though he had worked in LeBlanc, and a piece of cake. Dark chocolate, slightly bitter. When Ren’s turn came, he simply ordered a black coffee, Blue Mountain brew. Akechi paid the cashier, and the two went to find a seat 

The two were at a table by the large front window, with two plush chairs with a table between them. There was silence between them before the waitress brought their food, as if neither knew exactly what to say.

”I really must thank you for agreeing to come out tonight,” Akechi said, “I honestly wasn’t sure if you’d accept.”

”Why is that?” Ren asked, cupping his hands around the steaming cup. 

”Well, for one, your friends don’t seem very fond of me,” He looked out the window, at the people passing on the street. “It’s a bit odd. I finally meet people from my past and nearly all of them seem to hate me. All of them,” Ren saw the eyes of Akechi’s reflection in the glass move towards Ren’s own reflection, “except you.”

”Ryuji doesn’t hate you,” Ren took a sip of the coffee. Once again, not as good as Boss’s. ut it wasn’t bad, per say. “Strongly dislike? Yeah.”

”Did I do something to him?”

”Ryuji? He didn’t like you from the start, so don’t worry about it.”

Akechi turned away from the window, still not meeting Ren’s gaze. “You’re avoiding the question.”

”I learned from the best.” Ren countered.

”And who was that?”

”You.”

Akechi looked confused. “I thought you said we were close. Before,” He motioned aimlessly at his head. “well, you know.”

”We were,” Ren said, keeping the ‘well, I considered us close’ to himself. “Is this a date or an interrogation? Don’t tell me you only asked me out because you wanted answers and not because you think I’m hot.” 

”I can’t deny that you being attractive wasn’t an incentive, so, yes, it was a bit of both.” Akechi mused. “Well then. How about this? I ask a question, you ask a question. But no lying.”

”I haven’t lied to you,” Ren put down the cup of coffee, the clink of glass on glass echoing throughout the shop that was empty except for the pair, the waitstaff, and one other couple on the other side of the room. “But sure. Let’s get to know each other all over again. You already started, so I guess it’s my turn.” Akechi nodded his approval and took a sip of his own coffee. “Still play chess?”

”Only ever on my own. Haven’t had a partner to play with.” Ren made a mental note to buy a chessboard. Akechi set down his own cup. “When’s my birthday?”

”June 2. Never talked about it much,” Ren knew it was incredibly unlikely anyone had thrown him a birthday party after his mother died, he only knew the date because he’d overheard a few of Akechi’s fans talking between classes once. He had been looking forward to throwing one for Akechi’s next birthday until everything happened. “Thoughts on pancakes?”

Once again, the former detective’s face was etched with confusion, as if asking if that’s what Ren truly wanted to know? But he answered regardless. “They’re… fine? I’ve never really had to think much about them.” Ren snickered, but didn’t elaborate, so Akechi continued. “What’s my age?”

”You don’t-? Well, you’re a year older than me, so twenty-two.” Ren hadn’t considered that they’d probably have no definitive way of determining his exact age. His heart ached for him. How hard had these last four years been? “Do you like me better with or without glasses?”

”You’re not wearing glasses, though. I guess I’d have to say I’d prefer you without. I can see your eyes better.” Ren brushed his bangs out of his eyes a bit, earning a smile from Akechi. He liked seeing him be able to give a genuine one so freely. Sure, he’d seen them a number of times, especially in Maruki’s reality, where Akechi was far less guarded with Ren than he had been, but Ren still had to work a bit for those. But that had made them all the more special. 

And that continued for a bit. Mundane bits of information passed from one to another. Favorite colors, favorite musicians and hobbies; favorite movies and least favorite foods. A bit of conversation, quite a bit of flirting. It felt like a simple, normal date between two people that barely knew each other, and would certainly look like that to any onlooker. Their cups were long empty by the time the street lights flickered on one by one and the amount of people passing by the café were starting to dwindle.

”So what’s the deal with your cat?” Akechi leaned on his hands, elbows on the table. “I saw you feeding it at the coffee shop the other day.”

“Oh,” Ren flushed a bit. Maybe he was less subtle than he used to be. Either that or no one had ever pointed it out before. “That’s Morgana. I found him back in high school. He gets lonely easily.” 

”Found?”

”Nope. My turn, remember?” Akechi leaned back, hands up in surrender. “Cat or dog person?”

”Neither, to be honest.” He got defensive at Ren’s look of utter offense. “I’ve nothing against them. My turn, yes? Any question?” The dark headed man nodded. Akechi’s face turned serious, though there was a glint of mischief hiding in his gaze as he met Ren’s eyes.“What’s my name? My real name.”

Ren sighed. Leaned back in his chair, pulling his gaze away from Akechi’s own. So that’s the game he was playing. Start a twenty questions type of deal, catch him off guard, even if he should have known it was coming. He’d have to answer it sooner or later. And of course Akechi would want to know. Who wouldn’t? Maybe sooner would be better than later. He’d probably find out on his own anyway. And telling him his name wouldn’t reveal his entire past, right? He could still be happy. 

It’s not your choice to make, Akechi’s voice echoed in his mind. Not the Akechi in front of him, nor the Detective Prince that the world had come to know. No, this one was the one from the night before invading Maruki’s palace to steal his heart. The one that pushed him to make the choice that Ren ultimately made.

“Akechi Goro.” Ren felt like the air was being let out of him. This was not going to be a fun conversation and he hoped to anyone that was listening that he wasn’t making the wrong choice by at least telling the man in front of him his name. 

“You said you wouldn’t-“ Akechi fumed. “Fine, if you’re not going to take this seriously then why should I.” He stood up and started to leave. Ren grabbed his arm.

”And I’m telling you I’m not. Lying, I mean,” Ren pulled his closer. “I promised I wouldn’t lie, remember?” The former detective reluctantly returned to his chair and motioned for Ren to continue before crossing his arms across his chest. Ren took a deep breath. “Your name is Akechi Goro, and we met during one of my class field trips to a studio that you were doing an interview at. There’s footage, I can pull it up if you want.” 

“And you really really expect me to believe that? That I’m some famous detective and no one went looking for me?” Akechi’s voice dripped in familiar contempt. “How stupid do you think I am?”

”There were some… complicated things going on around then,” Yeah, that was an understatement. “And you did say you were in the hospital for a while.” A pause. “We did look. I looked.”

”Why didn’t any report me missing?” He accused. “My friends, my family?”

Ren swallowed. “There wasn’t any.”

”What do you mean there wasn’t any?”

”Akechi, please,” His voice pleading, but relieved there was no one else in the shop except for a bored waitress in the back to overhear them, “It’s hard to explain, it’s a lot. And I will. I promise. But not today.”

”Don’t- Don’t call me that.” Ren noticed his hands had begun digging into his arms. “I’m not some famous person. Who no one looked for apparently.”

”You wanted to know,” Ren tried to reach across the table, to grab his hand, his arm, to do something to help comfort him. He pulled it back. Now probably wasn’t the time. “And I told you I wouldn’t lie to you.”

”I wanted to know the truth, not some lie you’re spouting for god knows what reason,” He took a calming breath. “I did watch a few of his interviews. I’m nothing like the man. I can’t imagine I changed that drastically.”

Ren didn’t know how to respond to that. Yeah, ‘Katsura’ wasn’t like the detective prince, but he wasn’t entirely like the Real Akechi either. He suspected that might have had something to do with forgetting all of his past. Ren weighed his options as the two sat in a silence for what felt like an eternity. “That’s… true,” Ren settled on. “You’re nothing like the detective prince.” A weight settled in his stomach. “But you’re still Akechi.”

”What the fuck does that even mean?”

”It’s c-“

”Complicated,” Akechi growled, “Everything seems to be with this.” 

Ren pulled out his phone, went to contacts, and went to the name near the top of the list, tapping for more contact information. Being a sentimental sop seemed to have come in handy for once. The contact for Akechi was a selfie Ren had taken at Penguin Sniper, in front of a perfect game of darts. Ren was smiling smugly, his thumb pointing to the perfect score. Akechi was right behind him, mid eye roll at Ren taking the picture, but smugly smiling as well. Ren slid the phone across the table to Akechi, who picked it up gently. 

”You could have changed the name.” He pointed out, not releasing the phone.

”It at least proves I knew Akechi – knew you. Doesn’t it?” 

”It…might.” A noncommittal answer. A sigh. “Say I believe you.” His eyes narrowed, “which I’m not saying I am. But say I do. This means you aren’t lying about knowing me before. But why hide it?”

”There’s a lot of baggage that comes with a name,” Ren ran his finger along the edge of his empty cup, “You’re handling it pretty well, though, I’d think.”

”You were planning on not telling me.” It wasn’t a question. Ren nodded his confirmation. “There’s a reason you didn’t want to tell me, and I’m absolutely positive that there’s also more you’re not telling me.” Ren nodded again. “Are you planning on telling me any of it?”

Ren shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He really shouldn’t have told him. He really shouldn’t have. He should have known it was bound to lead from one thing to another. But he also knew he that if he didn’t tell him, there was a very large chance that Akechi would get tired of the game, would give up and leave, which would absolutely be the worst case scenario. Ren was hoping that maybe Akechi would just settle for being with Ren, forget the need for his past. That wasn’t how people worked, and that especially wasn’t how Akechi worked, amnesiac or not. At least since he knew of his former celebrity status, there was probably more he could mention. For now though, anything related to the metaverse and the crimes Akechi had committed in it were off the table. If he was lucky, if he was so, so lucky, he would never have to bring that up.

”Yes,” Ren lied. Guilt settled deep like a stone in his stomach. What was one more lie on top of the others he had told to other people he cared about over the past few days? In Ren’s defense, how does one even start to explain to another that they also lived a double life as a supernatural assassin in order to eventually take down their evil father who was running for prime minister?

Akechi, somewhat satisfied with that answer, slowly released the white knuckle grip he had on the phone. “I still don’t entirely believe you.”

”Still not lying,” Ren said, keeping his voice light. The guilt burrowed deeper. “This doesn’t mean the date’s over, does it?”

His partner didn’t laugh, didn’t visibly smile, but the atmosphere became noticeably less heavy. “So I haven’t ruined my chances for a second one?” Completely serious and deadpan. 

”That’s my line,” Ren laughed. Akechi loosened up a bit more. “Do I get my phone back?” Akechi’s eyes widened in surprise, and apologetically handed the phone back to Ren. He checked the time. “I probably should be getting back. Class tomorrow and all. I can walk with you to the train station?”

”Oh, do you need to take the train as well?” Akechi started to stand up, Ren followed. 

”No,” He winked. “But I want to. If you don’t mind, that is.”

”I think I’d quite like that, Ren.”

The walk to the station was not an especially long walk, but it was a peaceful one, filled with simple topics and soft smiles. Recommendations of different restaurants and shops in the area, discussion of bad professors and classes they hoped would get better. No discussion of the revelation that came earlier. Ren, too unsure of what to say, and Akechi, still not entirely believing him. The pair stopped outside of the gates.

”So,” Akechi said.

”So,” Ren agreed.

The two chuckled at the awkwardness. 

”My train should be arriving soon,” Akechi offered, having pulled out his Suica. “Thank you for seeing me tonight, Ren.”

”Anytime. I’ll, uh, see you soon, yeah?”

”The day after tomorrow, in class, certainly.”

”That’s not what I meant,” Ren played with a strand of hair from his bangs, “God, you really are insufferable, Akechi.” The other man’s grin fell. 

”I’m still not entirely sure about that,” He said, “But…” A pause. “I’ll trust you. For now.”

”Thank you,” Ren hoped how genuinely gracious he felt came through in his voice. “Um… text me when you get home, alright?” 

”You as well,” Akechi reached over and grabbed Ren’s hand. It looked like he might have wanted to do something else, do something more. For whatever reason, he didn’t. He only squeezed Ren’s hand, then released it, and with a wave, was through the gates and up a flight of stairs to the platforms. 

Ren still in silence for a few moments, his heart hammering against his rib cage. He let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. Was Akechi about to-? Only the sound of another train arriving, rattling on the ceiling above him, snapped him back to reality. Oh shit. He had to get home. He’d told Futaba he was going to be out a bit late, and she was sure she still had his phone bugged so she certainly knew where he was, but it was best not to let Ryuji or her worry. Besides, the later he stayed out, the more questions they were likely to have. 

-  


Ryuji was on the couch in the living room playing a game on their shared console when Ren walked in the door. The sound on his headphones must have been cranked up high, because he didn’t even acknowledge Ren until he tapped him on the shoulder.

”Dude, you scared the shit out of me,” Ryuji pulled the headphones down around his neck as he paused his game. “Have a good time?”

”Yeah,” Ren gave a mischievous grin. “Well, I’ve got reading due tomorrow, so I’ll be in my room if you guys need me,” He looked around. “Where’s Mona?”

”With Futaba. Hey, where were you?”

”Thanks, I’ll text Futaba I’m home and leave my door cracked for the cat.” He headed off towards his bedroom. 

”Hey!” Ryuji called, spinning around on the couch, “Dude, don’t ignore me!”

”I’m allowed secrets!” Ren called back as he nearly closed the door to his room but left it just open enough that Morgana could push it open. Then he proceeded to just collapse on his back on his bed.

And push it open he did, almost immediately after Ren informed Futaba he got home. He didn’t say a word, only purred and jumped up on the bed, curling up next to Ren. Ren dug his fingers into the cat’s warm fur.

What a night. But God, he hoped telling Akechi that he was, well, Akechi didn’t come back to bite him in the ass. But it did feel like a bit of weight had been lifted off of him now that he no longer had to call him the wrong name. Yeah, it had only been like, two days, but well, things have never exactly been normal between the two of them. But there was a greater weight now that he definitely knew that there was something that Ren was hiding from him. He’d have to cross that bridge when he got to it.

Ren’s phone buzzed. He grabbed it and, before checking, made sure Morgana didn’t see it. His luck hadn’t completely run out, as the cat was asleep. 

It was from Akechi, as Ren expected. ‘I returned safely. I hope you did as well?’ it read. 

’I did.’ He typed his reply, ‘I had a really good time tonight.’

’I did as well :)’ came the reply, almost immediately. Another buzz. ‘Talk to you tomorrow.’ 

’Of course’ Ren typed back. No more replies came. 

Ren plugged his phone in next to his bed, heart still fluttering. He was definitely not going to get his reading done tonight. Maybe he could at least skim it before class tomorrow. Hopefully it was still early enough in the semester that no one would quiz him on it. 

That night, Ren went to bed earlier than he normally did. Whether it was due to the lack of sleep the previous night, or the eventful day he had had, Ren didn’t know. But sleep came easier to him. He was still smiling as he drifted off to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the dialogue heavy chapter! I hope you enjoyed! Thank you again for reading! As always, tell me if there were any issues or anything! And thank you again! Especially for the comments and the kudos. Hope you're enjoying and not feeling like I'm rushing anything.


	7. Chapter 7

The pool balls scatter with a deafening crack. They dance around the green tabletop, bouncing off each other, off the walls, before two striped balls land in two of the holes. Ren smiles, standing up straight.

“You’re up, Yusuke.”

Yusuke nods, ever serious, and readies his cue. A few minutes pass, and he is still positioning the cue.

”Dude, are you gonna go or what?” Ryuji complains. “He- Ow!” He glares at Makoto, who has not so subtly elbowed him for making a rude comment.

”Is everything okay, Yusuke?” Haru’s voice drips with genuine concern.

Yusuke nods. “I am just trying to find the most aesthetically pleasing position.” He moves again, adjusting for something that Ren can’t see.

”You don’t have to, really,” Ann urges.

”Ah, but how will I be able to score well if it does not evoke any sort of artistic emotion? Even if I were able to, would there really be a point?”

”I…”Makoto pauses. “I don’t understand.”

”That’s Inari for you,” Futaba remarks as she pulls Morgana’s cheeks.

As his friends start a discussion on the aesthetics of billiards and what the effects of said aesthetics are, Ren moves to the table by the window, where Akechi is leaning, copper eyes observing the friendly chaos.

”Having a good time, detective?” Ren begins putting chalk at the end of his cue. It isn’t going to be his turn for a while at this point, but it’s better to be prepared.

”Of course,” Akechi says, his voice as light and pleasant as ever. Ren smirked internally. He should’ve expected he wouldn’t get to see any more glimpses of the real Akechi that he knew lurked beneath the surface, not with everyone here. It has only been a few days since their duel in mementos, where Akechi let that mask slip, let the rage that Ren knew boiled right beneath the surface show, and told Ren he hated him. Ever since then, that mask has stayed right in place, never budging. “Your friends seem to be having a good time.” Each word feels like it was picked with the utmost care.

”They could be your friends, too.” Ren knows the answer before Akechi responds. He knows what Akechi is planning in a few week’s time. He knows he won’t be able to change his mind, pull him over to their side, no matter how desperately he wants to.

”I’ll try,” Akechi lies through his teeth, giving the answer Ren expects. “But Amamiya, I must confess, I don’t think they’re very fond of me.” An astute observation, Ren thinks sarcastically. It’s not like any of them are making any effort to hide it. At the very least, everyone is doing extraordinarily well at hiding the fact that they know the detective is planning to kill their leader soon. That much Ren is thankful for. The plan is going smoothly.

”You know you can call me ‘Ren’, right?”

”Hm?”

”We’re friends, aren’t we?” Ren puts the cue down and casually leans on his elbow on the table, looking at Akechi through bangs and glass. “You don’t need to be so formal with me.” C’mon, drop the act.

Akechi’s pleasant smile wanes on the corners for just a microsecond, still not reaching his eyes. Ren can practically see the cogs working in his head on what the ‘proper’ response to something like this is. He settles on a simple brief laugh. “Of course we are. I’m just not used to having friends, so it’s taking a bit to get used to. I’d rather go at it at my own pace, if that would be alright.” 

Ren keeps his own face a mask of amused apathy to hide the disappointment. Fine, two can play at this game. He turns back to observation of his friends. Ann has her head in her hands as Yusuke, Futaba, and Ryuji have started what appears to be a very intense discussion on which pool ball is the best. Haru is absolutely being an enabler and Makoto is trying to mediate. Ren does not hide the smile that erupts on his face. God, he loves his friends.

Out of the corner of his eye, as the entire group is occupied, Ren sees Akechi’s mask drop for ever the briefest moment. Gone is the detective prince, replaced with someone else. But just as quickly he appears, the mask slips right back up. Can’t relax for even a moment. 

Ren wished he would.

”So what do you think, oh Great Detective Akechi?” He asks.

”I asked you not to call me that.” He moves a lock of hair back into place, “What do I think about what?”

Ren overdramatically rolls his eyes, as if his rival has missed the most obvious thing in the world. “Which ball is the best?”

”Does it matter?”

”Absolutely.”

Ren wishes they could all stay in that moment together. That moment where none of them are Phantom Thieves or traitors, but are instead just eight teenagers and a cat, having fun after class. No big missions, no crimes, no assassination plans to foil. Just normal kids being friends.

But Ren knows life doesn’t work that way.

-

Ren slammed the book closed which such a thump that Morgana leapt awake from his nap. Ryuji, on the other side of the table, set down his pencil and Futaba pulled her headphones down off her ears.

”You good?” She asked, her fingers still dancing over the keyboard as she did not look up.

Ren rubbed the palms of his hands into his eye sockets. “No.” Maybe he could get away with not doing his reading. It probably wouldn’t be too hard. He looked at the cat who was attempting to go back to sleep. Maybe he could bribe him to do his homework? And just tell him the answers in class?

”Wanna talk about it?” Ryuji was clearly looking for some sort of excuse not to do his own homework.

”I do not have the brain cells right now to comprehend Plato,” Ren moaned. He’d been trying to catch up on work since he got home from class. At least his dear friends had decided to suffer with him, as they all had laid out their various school work on their apartment’s table.

”I can do your shitty reading and you could do my chem?” Ryuji offered. The dark haired man stopped rubbing his eyes and stared, dumbfounded at his blonde friend.

”What makes you think I have the brain cells to do chemistry

but not read?”

Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno.” Turning to Morgana, now once again curled up, hugging his tail adorably. “Hey Mona, do you know anything about chemistry?”

Morgana opened his eyes and stretched. “Why would I know anything about chemistry?”

”’Cuz I know you help Ren cheat.”

”I do not cheat,” Ren defended himself, offended. It’s not like Morgana ever told him the answers; if anything, he only helped remind Ren and get him on the right train of thought.

”Uh-huh,” Ryuji clearly did not believe him. “Why do have so much work anyway? Professor’s being assholes early?”

”Probably because somebody didn’t do any homework last night,” Morgana chided. “He got home after his date and didn’t do anything.”

Futaba stopped typing on her laptop and Ryuji’s pencil fell out of his hand. Ren internally groaned. Snitch.

”You had a date?” Futaba exclaimed.

”You told Morgana but you didn’t tell me?” There was a hint of genuine hurt in Ryuji’s voice.

”It’s not like that,” Ren moaned. He’d told the damn cat himself when he was too tired to lie that morning. Morgana had made a joke about Ren having had a date the night before, and Ren, not being fully awake, had absentmindedly confirmed that that had been what he had been doing. Luckily, the surprise of slipping up had woken him up just enough that he kept his mouth shut about who exactly he had been on a date with. “He asked when I was too tired to hide it.” 

”But dude, why didn’t you say anything?”

To avoid this exact conversation. Ren thought. Because the person he had been seeing was a certain former assassin, the very same that had planned to, and almost had, taken Ren out, and didn’t want to deal with the lecture regarding it. None of those were the best things to say, though. So Ren settled for a simple, “I am allowed a private life, aren’t I?” with a good natured, wry smile.

”Nope,” Futaba said cheerily. “So who was it? Ooh, ooh. No. I wanna guess! Um.. do we know them?”

Ren rolled his eyes. “I’m not doing this.”

”It’s either this or read your dumb philosophy book.” Futaba pointed out. Goddamn it. Ren hated when she was right. Apparently he had broadcast that thought well enough that a grin broke out on his kind-of-sister’s face. “Mwehehe. So what’s it gonna be?”

He weighed his choices. To be fair, he was absolutely burnt out. All of his classes had assigned amounts of reading that would be acceptable, if not outright easy, to do in two nights. But Ren had only one night, after all of his classes to do it, and while he could pull an all nighter, it wasn’t exactly something he liked to do. Especially this early in the semester. So on one hand, he could continue to push himself, be a good student, and finish all his reading, even the assigned chapters of Plato. On the other hand, the words were swimming in front of him and he wasn’t retaining any information, so a break was probably in order. On a third hand, talking to his friends about a date with a certain amnesiac assassin when they, as a group, had agreed to be careful around him, and that Ren had confessed to him his true identity, wasn’t exactly Ren’s definition of a good time.

The cover of Plato’s Republic stared back at him. God, he really, really didn’t feel like doing his reading tonight though.

”Anyone want to get take out tonight?” Ren offered, hoping the change the subject. “I can pick it up.”

Futaba narrowed her eyes. “I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work. But,” She closed her laptop, “If you’re paying, I’m not going to say no.” 

”I was assuming we’d all split it.”

”You want to distraction, you get to pay. It’s only fair.”

”She’s right,” Ryuji agreed.

”I hate all of you.” Ren sighed, but pulled out his wallet from the backpack on the floor next to him to check out much he had on him. “If I’m paying, I get to choose.”

”Vetoed!” Futaba exclaimed. “I demand karaage!”

”That sounds nice,” Morgana mused.

”There’s a good place not far from here,” Ryuji acknowledged.

Ren stared at the paper money in his wallet. He’d been to the place Ryuji was talking about before, it wasn’t horribly expensive. But still… paying for three people (and a cat)… Well. If this was his price not to have to talk about his secret date, so be it. Maybe he could pick up another shift at his part time job to cover the loss on his budget. Damn. He’d have to thank Akechi for covering the check last night, again.

”I’m coming with!” Futaba leapt out of her chair and went to go grab her shoes. No backing out of it now, Ren guessed.

\--

Ren paid the cashier and moved to lean against the wall next to the small restaurant’s take out window, where Futaba was already crouching. It was already pitch-black outside; he hadn’t realized how long they’d waited to get something to eat. The streetlamps were all lit, and bright lights that illuminated the restaurant’s sign and take out window cast long shadows on the sidewalk. Ren could hear the muffled chatter from inside the restaurant. 

”So what gives?” Trying to keep it casual. Futaba looked up at him.

”What do you mean?”

”C’mon. I know you. There’s got to be a reason you wanted to join me on a food run.”

”I can’t just want to have an adventure?” Futaba asked. Ren raised an eyebrow. She sighed. “You got me.” Ren waited for a few seconds, but she didn’t continue. He shoved his hands in his pockets, brushed some of his bangs out of his eyes.

”So…?” He urged, softly and gently. “Want to talk about it or just wanted to get out of the house for a bit?” Futaba shrugged.

“Well,” She began. “I’m just…” She stood up, her own hands shoved deep into her own coat’s pocket, head tucked in a bit. “You went on a date with him, right?”

Ren felt his heart jump. Trying to keep his voice casual, not let any of the surprise, no hint of panic through, “Him?”

She turned to him, the glare on her glasses obscuring her eyes. “You know who I mean.” Ren didn’t answer, say anything. “With Akechi.”

Ren kicked at a rock on the sidewalk. “How’d you know?” She wouldn’t have used the bug on his phone, would she?

Though he couldn’t see her eyes, he could tell she was rolling them. “Ren, I know you. You’re my key item, and you’re basically my brother. Good try, though.” A pause. “So Mona doesn’t know?”

”Only you.” Ren started playing with a strand of hair, twisting it between his fingers. “Are you… are you okay? Not with me seeing it, but with him being back?” Because of what he did to your mother. The unspoken elephant in the room. It’s not like Ren was excusing what Akechi had done. There was never any excusing that.

”I..I don’t know.” Futaba looked straight ahead, at the shops on the other side of the road. “It’s like. I don’t forgive him. I can’t forgive him. But…” Ren could tell she had started to clench her fists. “It was Shido more than him, right? He’s the one that wanted my mom dead? And… and I don’t know. It’s… complicated. Especially since he doesn’t remember anything. It’s not fair for me to hold a bunch of stuff he did against him if he doesn’t remember it? But he still did it. He still killed my mom, Ren. Even if I understand why; it’s not like he could disobey Shido, right? But.” Ren heard a bit of a crack in her voice. “I. I just don’t know, Ren.” She took a deep, grounding breath. “Can I forgive him? No. Can I be okay with him? I… I don’t know. You trust him. And I trust you. So for now, I’ll trust you on this.”

Without thinking, Ren reached over and pulled her into a hug. By her stiffness, Ren could tell that she was startled, but she melted into him. Arms hugged him back. When they separated, she was finally positioned in a way that Ren could see her eyes.

”This isn’t the end of this discussion,” She huffed. “This is just a pause.”

”Of course,” Ren agreed. Topics aren’t settled that quickly, especially when topics are as heavy as ‘hey I’m hoping to date the guy that killed your mom’. “You, uh, you don’t mind not telling anyone this right?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Especially Morgana and Makoto?”

”There’s a reason I brought it up here and not at home.” He could practically hear the eyeroll in her voice.

”You really are the best.”

”Hehe. I know.” Futaba pushed up her glasses, causing the glare to return and hide her eyes. “You can tell me again if you want.”

They both jumped at the ding by the window. Ren went to it, and confirmed his order, and the cashier handed him a large plastic bag with their meals inside. 

”Food obtained!” The orange haired girl cheered. “C’mon let’s get home before it gets cold. Quest updated!” She pulled at the arm that wasn’t carrying the bag. 

”Futaba! I’m coming. Futaba slow down. Let go of my ar-“

\--

After eating, the rest of the night was spent suffering. Even the break to leave the apartment to get food, and then devour said food, was not enough of a break that Ren was able to concentrate on his reading. He felt like he was reading the same passage over and over again, but retaining none of it. Class was not going to be fun in the morning, especially since the syllabus had indicated that participation was going to be a heavy focus. Akechi had always given him the vibes of someone who would absolutely be a know it all in class. Maybe if he was lucky, he’d spend the whole class debating with the professor and Ren could pretend to listen. That’d be nice.

Ren felt Morgana pawing at his hand. Damn, did he have to use his claws? It was only then that he realized he must have drifted off at some point.

”I’m up. I’m up,” His voice was groggy and heavy with sleep.

”Give it up and go to bed,” Morgana advised, his tail swishing back and forth. “There’s no point going to sleep on the kitchen table.”

”You’re not my mom,” Ren’s head fell back onto the table. Morgana nipped him. “Hey! Fine. Fine.” He started to trudge towards his room, leaving all the books scattered where they were. The black cat happily trailed behind.

”Remember Lady Ann’s visiting tomorrow and staying the weekend!” Morgana hopped onto Ren’s bed and began to circle before lying down. “It’d be bad if you spent all afternoon sleeping.”

”I’m already going to bed, Mom” Ren tore off his shirt, replacing it with a night shirt. “What more do you want from me?”

”Just go to sleep.”

Ren stuck his tongue out at the cat, but listened to him nonetheless. One day he would stand up to Morgana when he told him to go to sleep, he’d been telling himself that he’d do that for years now, but today was not that day. He told himself that it was because he was too tired tonight, that it wasn't worth the effort. He was still having those thoughts when sleep took him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been brought to you by the OST of Hades. Started it this week; the game's great. Anyway, sorry for the shorter chapter this week. Have been a bit ill BUT I'm like 98% sure it wasn't the current plague and have basically recovered. Next chapter will be up next Saturday, at the latest!
> 
> Thank you again for reading! I hope you enjoy! I read all the comments and I really appreciate them, they're so nice ;-; I just don't know how to respond to some of them!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was planning on getting this up yesterday night, but illness struck, so it's up today. Really sorry about that! I am writing these week by week, so if something comes up like that, well, you know. Luckily am feeling significantly better, but i do apologize if there's anything messed up in the chapter though.  
> Also, like, thank you so much for the kudos and comments and just reading this! This got WAY more attention than I ever thought it would and I'm just really, really thankful!  
> 

”You didn’t actually do any of the reading did you?”

Ren side eyed the smirking detective and set down his fork. “That’s a bold claim. I actually did do it, thank you very much.”

Akechi raised an eyebrow. “You could have fooled me.”

”I did. I just… didn’t remember any of it.” He grabbed a small piece of fish and slipped it to Morgana. Hopefully none of the cafeteria staff noticed that Ren had brought a cat, and hopefully if any of them did, they wouldn’t say anything. 

”That’s what you get for not doing any homework after your date,” Morgana happily chided after wolfing down the food.

”Shut up.” Ren muttered.

”What was that?” Akechi asked. Oh shit. Ren had completely forgotten that he was there. Had he heard Morgana? Was he still able to hear Morgana?

”Hm? Just talking to Morgana,” Play it cool, Ren. No need to give information if Akechi isn’t strictly asking it, and even then, only give as much as required. Just like old times, when the two of them had played their game of ‘you know that I know that you know’ and so on, neither of them willing or able to give up any sort of standing, show any weakness. Except, Ren figured, it was a bit more unfair now, wasn’t it? He held all the cards. Kind of took the fun out of it a bit, if he was being honest with himself. Though the whole ‘being guarded’ thing was certainly a familiar feeling.

Akechi didn’t press or push, didn’t give any indication of if he had been able to understand what the cat was saying. Only gave a hum of acknowledgement as he continued eating his own rice.

To be quite honest, Ren had been surprised that Akechi had invited Ren to join him for lunch. It was incredibly lucky that they both had enough of a break in their schedules for enough time that they were both able to meet at the cafeteria. It was also incredibly lucky that the rest of his friends had class at the moment, so he wouldn’t have to come up with any explanations. Morgana, ever loyal the companion, hadn’t asked any questions yet, but Ren knew he was in for it when they were alone. But he also knew that Morgana, despite how cautious and overprotective he often was, wouldn’t snitch to everyone else unless something came up that put Ren in immediate danger. Well, Ren was pretty sure.

”You really do take that cat everywhere,” Akechi mused. “Is it really alright for you to be feeding him human food?”

”Hasn’t killed him yet,” Grateful for no acknowledgement on Morgana’s capability of speech, he slipped him yet another piece.

”Emphasis on the ‘yet’.”

”I do know how to take care of my own cat, you know.”

”Debatable,” There was a glint of mischief in his eyes, the slight tug of a smile at the edges of his lips.

Ren glared, and while not breaking eye contact, slipped the cat yet another morsal of food. Akechi covered his mouth with a suspicious cough that almost sounded like a laugh. 

”I’m not going to have to make sure you do your philosophy homework, right?” That glint was still in his eyes, daring Ren.

”Oh? And how would you do that?”

Akechi hummed. “I have some ideas.” Ren heard Morgana choke momentarily on his fish. He leaned on his hand, elbow on the table, and looked up at the man on the other side of the table, long lashed eyes peeking through dark bangs.

”And how,” He drawled, challenging, “would you do that?”

The hint of a grin on Akechi’s face broke into a full-blown smirk. Copper eyes seemed to peer right into Ren. He raised his eyebrows in return, urging for the former detective continue. C’mon. Say it. Don’t be a coward. It’s not like he knows that Morgana isn’t a normal cat, right? What’s he afraid of?

Akechi leaned forward, mimicking Ren’s posture but resting his chin on clasped hands, snot breaking eye contact. Ren’s heart pounded, the rhythmic river rush of blood thumped in his ears.

”I could,” Akechi began, eyes travelling away from Ren’s own, traveling down. They flicked back up. “Hm.” He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. “Anyway. We could do it together? Study dates and such?” Ren felt himself deflate. An awful tease. God he hated him. He really really hated him sometimes. Ren mimicked Akechi’s posture, rearranged his hair.

”You’re awful. You’re an awful man. Why do I even bother with you?” He accused, running his fingers through his hair. Akechi snickered, earning himself a glare. “But. Study dates huh?” He waggled his own eyebrows. “Emphasis on the date?”

The brown haired man snorted. “Emphasis on the study.”

”But still a date.” Another eyebrow wiggle, which earned him an eyeroll, softened by an amused hint of a smile.

”If that motivates you to study, then yes.” A sigh. “Sunday night?”

”What?”

”I’m quite serious. Are you available Sunday night?”

”Uh,” Shit. He wasn’t especially good at remembering appointments, if he had any, that far in the future. Wasn’t Ann visiting this weekend? They hadn’t seen her in forever. “Sorry. I don’t think so? Maybe ask me closer to the time and I’ll see?”

”Hm. I’ll hold you to it. We should get started on that pair work as early as possible, as well.”

Ren froze. “What group project?”

Akechi’s mouth fell open in shock. “Ren. Ren, did you actually retain anything the professor said?”

”Yes!” Ren defended himself, obviously offended. What did Akechi take him for? A bad student? He was the top of his graduating class in high school. The look the brown haired man gave him was one of complete and utter doubt. ”No.” He admitted. The look transformed into that was that smugly saying, ‘that’s what I thought.’ Smug bastard. Part of him was still in shock that he was able to think that about Akechi again, think it about him in a new context, think about it in reference to a living, breathing, older version of Akechi. It had only been a few days, and Ren still couldn’t get over that he was alive and breathing and they had gone on a date.

Completely oblivious to Ren’s thoughts, Akechi continued. “We have a pair work assignment. In Philosophy. Due next Friday. And considering your work ethic,” He motioned at the entirety of his black haired companion, “Or rather, the lack thereof, it would probably be best to get started as soon as possible, wouldn’t you agree?”

”Wait, first: I do actually get my stuff done on time, second: what the hell are you talking about with a group project?” Ren tried to wrack his brain for any memories of the class he was in this morning. In his defense, it wasn’t entirely his fault. The professor wasn’t an especially engaging one, and that coupled with the absolute burnout from the night before, culminated in Ren not retaining any of the information at all.

”Pair work

,” Akechi emphasized, dragging out each work. “To help develop our arguments after analyzing the philosophers we were,” A pointed look, “supposed to have read over the week.”

”What would it take for you to believe me when I say that I did do my reading?” Ren defended himself once again. If it was any other day, sure, yeah, he’d defend himself once, but after that just take it in stride, but having spent all of yesterday afternoon and a good portion of the night suffering, he wasn’t going to let that suffering be in vain. It didn’t help that Ryuji and Futaba had abandoned him and went to go do activities that Ren very much wanted to participate in, but no he had to be a good student.

”When you prove it to me.” A smirk. Wait, was the former detective trying to turn this into some sort of competition? What?

”I give up,” Ren’s phone buzzed. He flipped it over and checked it, assuming it was another text, but instead was met with an alarm. “Shit.” Akechi shot him a questioning look. “Sorry, got to get to class. See you around, Akechi. Thanks for lunch.”

”The pleasure was mine,” His ever pleasant voice was smooth and even, “Still need some getting used to that name. My name.” There was a flicker of something in his eyes that Ren couldn’t catch. A memory maybe? Or did he find something out? But it was broken by a soft laugh. “Next time, when we have more time, will you answer some more questions?”

Ren looked up, having almost finished packing up his bag (including moving things around so Morgana would be comfortable), and arranging his tray, and smirked. “Do you only keep me around for answering questions?” He teased.

”Hm. Possibly. Though you do have some other… interesting qualities.” Copper eyes once again seemed to size Ren up. “Is that a no, I take it?” 

”Nah, sure.” Ren quickly said. “Anytime. I really do have to get going though. See you ‘round.”

And with that, Ren left the table, and the cafeteria. As he left, he had the distinct feeling like someone was watching him until he left their sight, almost as if they had wished he had stayed a bit longer.

-

”How long’s he known?” Morgana wriggled his head and front paws out of Ren’s bag, placing them gently on the human’s shoulder. 

Ren kept walking, eyes forward. It was still between classes, so the sidewalks weren’t especially busy with other people. “What do you mean?”

The black cat tensed up, claws digging softly into the shoulders of the person carrying him. “Don’t play games with me, Ren. I’m not deaf. You called him Akechi.” He loosened his grip on Ren’s shirt, then dug back in. “You told him, didn’t you?” Ren kept walking. No acknowledgement, no response. He artfully leapt out of the way of a skateboarder who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, rolling down the path with no regard for human life or injury. It’d be kind of funny if he tripped, wouldn’t it? Kind of karmic? He was knocked out of his thoughts by the sharp, small pain of tiny daggers digging deeper into flesh. “Ren.”

“Yeah,” His voice was resigned as he reached up and tried to loosen Morgana’s paws from his shirt, massaging each tiny toe gently.

”Why?” Such a simple question, only one word, but so very loaded.

”I just told him his name, Mona,” Fingers, now having finished their job of releasing sharp claws from soft fabric and flesh, moved to scratch under the cat’s chin. Morgana yowled in protest. It seemed it wouldn’t be all that easy to distract him from this, or at least keep him calm during this discussion. Not that Ren blamed him. Yeah, Akechi had helped them out during the entire Maruki ordeal, had believed he was sacrificing his own life to do so as well, but also, he had shot him. Point blank. With intent to kill. And Morgana, ever the present and loyal companion, was unlikely to ever forget that. Wasn’t like Ren ever forgot that either.

”That’s…risky.” Again, a few words, but so much weight. Risky to tell him anything, especially his name. A name carries a lot, can lead to a lot, especially in the information age. Risky to let him in at all, to get close to him. Back when he was a teenager, during that year in Tokyo, Ren had done a lot of risky things. He didn’t regret them at all, no, he knew it was the right thing to do; they’d helped a lot of people, after all. But it was risky nonetheless.

Ren hummed an affirmation. “Yeah.” An attempt to pet the cat again was met with a light nip, a play bite. Ren’s voice softened. “Going to tell everyone else?”

”I probably should. But…”

”But?”

”You should do it. Be the one to tell them.”

”I…will.” Just not right now. It’s not like he was planning to keep everything a secret forever, and it’s not like it was feasible to do so anyway. Give him a bit of time, maybe if he was lucky, planned it out well, might be able to start to convince some of the group that having a certain someone around wouldn’t be all that bad. At least, convince some people before certain other people find out. There’d be hell to pay when that happened. Not that he was blaming them, of course. But, hey, Ren was allowed to be a little selfish sometimes, wasn’t he?

”I’m holding you to that. If you don’t, at some point I will, ” Morgana repositioned himself in the back in order to get a better grip, accidentally sending the corner of a book painfully into Ren’s shoulder. When he shifted his own shoulder to get it out of the way, Mona yowled in protest. “Hey! What was that for?!”

Ren reached up to try to pet his friend again, and this time, was luckily allowed to. Point for Ren. “Stabbing me with a book.” Scratching Morgana below the chin so that he couldn’t protest, the dark haired man continued, “How much sushi would I have to give you to pay attention in class for me?”

The cat seemed to contemplate it for a moment. “Fatty tuna?”

”Mona, you know that I love and cherish you, but I also cannot keep buying you fatty tuna. I have bills. I have tuition. Would you please accept regular, convenience store sushi for this favor?” Ren begged. As much as he really didn’t feel up to paying attention in class, his poor wallet did not want to end up paying for expensive food for his cat.

”Hm… No!” Morgana rejected his offer cheerfully. “Fatty tuna or else!”

Ren sighed. Guess he had to be a good student. Oh, how he hated obligations.

-

God, he was off to a bad first week of the semester. Not that he wasn’t extremely, incredibly glad that Akechi was alive and back in his life, but that return did no favors to his already strenuous ability to fully pay attention in class. He’d somehow paid more attention in the rest of his classes, but still, he was definitely going to have to overcompensate for the parts he didn’t entirely retain with textbook and maybe seeing if anyone would lend him some notes. Maybe he could use Morgana as a bargaining chip? There had to be some college students that were willing to trade notes for the opportunity to pet a cat for a bit. Wouldn’t even cost them any money. Though he’d also have to bribe Morgana to deal with that, probably.

He had barely opened the door to his apartment when the air was knocked out of his by someone slamming into his body. Arms wrapped around him and his lower face was buried in a mess of blonde hair.

”Ren!” Takamaki Ann cheered, squeezing her friend, “It’s been forever! I’ve missed you so much! How have you been? Did you have a lot of classes today?” Rapid fire questions and statements shot out of her. 

”Ann,” Ren wheezed, “C-Can’t breathe.” It was so very nice to see her again though. He really had missed her.

”Oops!” Sheepishly, she released Ren from his accidental hug prison and moved out of the way to let him enter his apartment. “But seriously though, Ren. It’s been, like, forever.” She twisted a long blonde lock of hair around her finger. “How’ve you been? Especially with, well, you know?”

Ren laughed. “I’ve missed you too, Ann. Let me put my stuff up. You been here long?” Having finished taking off his shoes, he started towards his room, Ann following behind.

”Lady Ann! Lady Ann! Did you miss me too?” Morgana, finally free from Ren’s bag, trotted behind Ann.

She bent down and scooped him up, cradling him in her arms. “Of course I missed you too, Mona! How’s my favorite little kitty?” Morgana began purring in response. Hmph. Morgana never let Ren hold him that way without a fight. She followed Ren into his room, “No, don’t worry about it. Ryuji said he’d just gotten home when I came.”

Ryuji? Ren hadn’t seen him when he came in. “Is he home?”

”Ryuji? You actually just missed him. He said he had a track meet or something?” She sat down on his bed, still holding his cat, “Told me to tell you not to wait up for him for dinner.”

”Ah. Thanks,” Ren started taking his books and notebooks out of his bag, placing them in their respective spots. “You hungry?”

”I could go for food.” She paused and winked. “If you’re paying.”

Ren groaned. “What is it with people wanting me to pay for you guys this week? You’re the one with the full time model job, I’m but a poor student.” Ann snorted. “I’m serious.” But his smile said he was anything but. Ann rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

”Fine then, we’ll split it.”

”You buy Morgana’s share.” He haggled. He really couldn’t afford to keep eating out. But c’mon, it’d been forever since he’d seen Ann. They could all eat in tomorrow night. 

”If that’s all, then sure.” So they’d struck a deal. It wasn’t much, but it was far easier to convince her to pay for one person, or well, a cat, than pay for two people.

”You want to go now?” Ann looked surprised at Ren’s suggestion. “You just got home, though?”

The dark haired man shrugged it off. “I’m hungry.” A simple explanation. “My choice though. I don’t want someone choosing an expensive place.” A pointed look towards the bed.

”I would never!” Morgana protested. “I would never ask Lady Ann to spend so much money on me!”

”Oh, but you don’t care when it’s me, huh? But no. I was referring to ‘Lady’ Ann’s expensive taste.”

Ann shrugged in a ‘what can I say’ way before she leapt off of the bed, sending Morgana plummeting to the ground, where he gracefully landed on his feet. “Oops, sorry Mona!”

”It’s okay!” Morgana leapt back up on the bed so that Ren could put him in the bag. 

”Wait,” Ann froze, “What about Futaba? Doesn’t she live with you guys? We should invite her, too.”

Ren waved her off. “It’s Friday night, she’s got a thing in one of her games. Can’t knock her out of it even if we tried.” He slung the Mona bag over his shoulder. “C’mon, I know a great place.”

-

Even with her sunglasses pull down over hey eyes and her hair styled differently, they were still stopped twice on the way to the restaurant by fans who recognized Ann. She had taken it in stride though, being thankful and taking pictures when they had asked. Ren had even offered to take pictures if they had wanted it, although that was more so that he wouldn’t be caught on camera as well.

As she slunk into the dimly lit booth, Ann breathed a sigh of relief. “This place looks great.”

”Wait til you try the food,” Ren winked. He passed a menu to his partner, “So. How was Kyoto?”

Ann put down the menu as she leaned on her arms, “Oh it was incredible! We totes all need to go back someday! It’s stunning.” She leaned back, appearing to be lost in memories. “I wish I had more time to explore though. We were absolutely booked the whole time. I really wanted to hike all of Fushimi-Inari, but tight schedules, you know? And the food! And the sweets!” She sat back up suddenly, her memories having led her somewhere less pleasant. “And you would not believe what this new model did!”

While Ren really did want to know what had happened, to catch up with his friend who he hadn’t seen in person for so long, he also knew that it would probably be best to order before she got started. “Order first?” He offered.

“Oh, yeah. That’s probably a good idea. You know what you want?” Ren nodded. “Okay, great. I’m ready.” And with that, she pushed the button for the waiter.

They placed their orders, and waited for their food as Ann continued her story.

Her story was long, but interesting, with only Ren and Morgana breaking in to ask questions or offer the appropriate ‘she didn’t!’s or ‘what’s. She was starting to wrap it up when the waiter arrived, food and checks in hand.

”God, what a bitch,” Ren said as he picked up his burger.

”I know right! I hope I don’t end up on any more shoots with her. She’s the actual worst.” She picked up her fork. “Enough about me though! Spill.”

”Hm?” He played dumb as he slid the tray of fish to the spot in the table in front of Morgana, who with the waiter gone, had entirely freed himself from the bag. The cat meowed in delight, earning a confused look from the patrons at the table on the other side of the room. 

”Ren,” She warned. “Come on! With you-know-who,” She leaned in, looked from side to side, as if he was somehow going to appear out of nowhere. “Akechi.”

”What about him?” He looked away. Ann had always had a nasty habit of being able to tell when something was up; he suspected that back in high school, during that year in Tokyo, that she had suspected that there might have been something more between the detective and his rival, or at least, that Ren might have felt something more, but she hadn’t said anything, still hadn’t. But with the reemergence of a certain someone, maybe that vow of silence was coming to an end. “Oh. He goes by Katsura now, by the way.” No need to tell her that he had told him his name quite yet. He heard Morgana pause in his chewing, and felt a side glare burn into him, but apparently the cat didn’t want to make a scene at the moment. When they were alone, Ren knew he was in for an earful though. That was going to be fun.

”Huh. That’s… something. Anyway. About Akechi…” She leaned back, seeming to take great care in her next words. “Are you dealing with it okay?”

”Ann, I’m not worried that he’s going to kill me again if that’s what you’re asking.” Hadn’t they been over this already?

Ann rolled her eyes. “Not that. I mean… he’s back. You two were a bit… close, weren’t you?”

”Kind of, yeah,” A noncommittal answer.

”And he’s back. But he doesn’t remember, right? Are you doing okay?”

Ren blinked. This was the first time that someone had asked him about it without asking about the whole murderer aspect of it. It was… complicated. Everything about him and Akechi, together, seemed to be. That was the one word he kept going back to, kept settling on any time thought about him. 

He took a breath. “I’m dealing with it.” No need to confess that he had already gone on a date with him, had already did one of the few things the group had agreed on not doing. Ann looked at him, blue eyes filled with concern.

”I won’t push you, but I’m always here to talk, you know? I’m here for a few days, and you can call me anytime. You know that right?”

”I do, Ann. Thank you.” And he meant it. He really meant it.

Ann was kind enough not the bring that topic of conversation up for a while, instead switching to just catching up. Morgana piped up quite a bit to join the conversation. Ann pressed the button again.

”I want dessert,” She said as an explanation after seeing the confusion on Ren’s face. “I’m on break. I deserve it.”

Ren held his hands up in mock surrender. “I didn’t say anything.”

”And you’re not going to,” She faux warned him, angling a knife. She and Ren kept staring at each other, Morgana glancing between the two of them nervously before Ann was the first to break character, erupting in giggles. Ren quickly followed, with Morgana not far behind.

”You’re sure you can’t stay longer?” Ren asked through gasps of air.

”I’d love to, but, you know, work,” She shrugged nonchalantly.

Oh, if only neither of them had any obligations. But that wasn’t the way that things were.

Ren and Ann looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps, expecting the waiter that was to be bringing Ann her requested Sunday. To their complete and utter shock, it wasn’t. Oh, this was not good. Ren knew things rarely went exactly to plan, especially where he and his friends were involved, but this was very much not what he wanted, especially tonight. 

”Oh, Ren,” Akechi Goro asked, pleasant smile plastered on his face and seeming just as surprised as Ren, Ann, and Morgana, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my friend, who I know (and greatly hope) will never read this, for not asking questions when I asked what the fuck you do in philosophy class and instead sent me an entire detailed essay. I really owe you one. Also if other friend who I asked about different philosophers ever finds this, I owe you one as well for also not asking questions.
> 
>  **UPDATE 10/7:** So, this week has been rough and this weekend I'm moving back home for a while since my internship is coming to an end, so next chapter will probably be updated mid next-week, not on the weekend as normally. Sorry!


	9. Chapter 9

Ren wished he could fall right through the floor at that moment. He wished he could disappear, taking Ann and Morgana with him, to God knows where, just somewhere, anywhere, that wasn’t here. He’d take anything at this point, honestly. A flood, an earthquake, the ability to just vanish, you name it. But no gods answered his prayers, no freak natural disasters happened, nothing. In a last ditch effort, he blinked.

When his eyes flashed open, he was still in the restaurant, with Ann, and Akechi was still standing in front of him, pleasantly smiling. So much for that.

Okay. He had to find a way to save this, make sure it went smoothly.

”You’re not stalking me, are you?” A bit of Joker’s smile and teasing slipped through. Keep it under control. It was probably best to speak first, before Ann let something slip to Akechi, or Akechi let it skip to Ann that he knew. Hopefully, hopefully he could keep in control of the conversation.

”I’m offended,” Akechi said in a voice, light and airy, coming across as not offended at all. “I could be asking the same of you.”

”You’re the one who shows up where I am.” Ren countered.

”Who’s to say that you aren’t the one who is awaiting my arrival at any given place? I don’t think it would be too hard to determine my schedule.”

”I’m still here first.” Ren saw Ann’s flash between him and Akechi so many times he was a bit concerned she might make herself dizzy. Her lips were slightly parted in a way that he wasn’t sure if it was just due to surprise, or if she was trying to find a way to say something. “Anyway. Sorry. This is my friend, Takamaki Ann,” He motioned toward her before turning to her, “Ann, this is the guy I was telling you about from my philosophy class, Katsura Shouichi.” He hoped Ann didn’t pick up on the slight emphasis he placed on Akechi’s false name. 

Some sort of confusion briefly flickered across Akechi’s features, but he kept up the smile, the pleasant expression, much to Ren’s relief. Seemed he was still quick on the uptake. Akechi smiled and nodded slightly to Ann, “Ah, hello. I’m terribly sorry for not introducing myself earlier. As Ren said, my name is Katsura Shouichi.” 

Ann still looked stunned. Which was… fair. Ren almost wished he could have seen his face when he first saw Akechi in front of him, very much not dead. In a testament to the evolution of her acting skills, she seemed to be keeping it fairly under control. 

”A- Katsura, did you just get here?” Ann asked, clearly trying to keep her own voice light and calm, but wavering. Still trying to keep it casual, though. Bles Ann. Her acting skills still weren’t great, but certainly an improvement from when she was a teenager.

”On the contrary, I was just leaving,” He didn’t make any movement to head towards the exit. Was he waiting for something? 

”Excuse me, sir,” The waiter’s voice came from behind Akechi, who jumped and stepped out of the way. A large slice of chocolate cake was placed on the table in front of Ann. Her eyes widened in delight and Ren almost swore he saw her start to drool as she snapped up a fork.

Akechi stifled a small chuckle, hiding it with a suspicious cough and a hand over his mouth. Ann didn’t seem to notice at all, completely enraptured by the dessert. Ren couldn’t help but smile a bit seeing how delighted Ann was. Especially since he wasn’t paying for her this time.

The brown haired man cleared his throat, “Well, I will let you two be. It was nice seeing you Ren, and nice to meet you as well Takamaki.”

”Not going to stay and chat?” Ren teased again. Please stay. Yes, he knew it was still incredibly risky to hang out with Akechi, especially with both Ann and Morgana around, but sometimes, maybe, coincidences were good. Just because he hadn’t meant to see Akechi tonight didn’t mean that he was going to complain about him showing up out of the blue. Not that it entirely surprised him. There were only so many reasonably priced restaurants in the area.

Akechi looked a bit uncomfortable, he shifted from one foot to the other, “I don’t want to intrude on your date.”

Ren froze. Ann choked on her cake. Morgana meowed loudly, too surprised to even properly form a word.

”Our what?” Ren stood up and started patting Ann on the back, even as she was motioning that she was alright and began taking large gulps of water.

Even more confusion formed on Akechi’s face. “Your…date?” He looked between the recovering blonde girl and the concerned (and confused) dark hair boy. “That…is what is going on, yes? A date between you and Takamaki?”

Ren sat back down. It had been a very long time since someone had assumed Ann and Ren were romantically involved, and as a result, the pair were taken very aback. Morgana propped his front paws up on the table.

”This is a da-“ The cat didn’t get to finish the question due to Ren immediately cupping his hand over the cat’s maw and using the other hand to lower him back onto the seat where any passerby couldn’t see him.

”We’re not-“ Ren stopped as Ann started making choking sounds. Immediately concerned, he released the indignant cat and turned to his friend, ready to spring up and help her if she really was starting to choke. Takemi had taught him some basic first aid, and sure, it’d been a few years and he was a bit out of practice, but he was sure that if push came to shove, he could still perform the Heimlich. It was only when he saw her face that he realized she was trying, and evidently failing, to hold back laughter.

”Da-date Ren?” She gasped between bursts of laughter. Ren tried his best not to be offended by the fact that she was laughing at the thought, before he remembered that, duh, Ann wasn’t exactly into people of Ren’s gender. “Oh my god, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in forever.” The bursts of laughter were starting to cease, Ann started to take deeper and deeper breaths. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and scooted towards the other side of the booth, opening a space for Akechi. She dragged over the plate with the cake as well. “No, no. Ren isn’t exactly my type. He’s just a really, really close friend, you know? But yeah. Not a date,” At the mention of the word date she started giggling again. 

Ren really didn’t get what was so funny about it. Regardless, at Ann’s very emphatic denial about the date, Ren felt Morgana relax. Tentatively, he loosened his grip on his friend, and when he received no indication that Morgana would make a scene, he released him entirely. Ren picked up a piece of fish from Morgana’s plate and put it on the booth next to the cat. Hopefully that would keep him entertained, and quiet, for a bit.

When he finally looked back up to Akechi, Ren was surprised to see him look utterly and completely aghast.

”I’m so terribly sorry,” He stammered, “I just assumed and-“

Ren held up a hand and cut him off. “Don’t worry about it. Not like it’s the first time that’s happened.” Still didn’t get what was so funny about it. “C’mon, if you’re not busy, sit down for a bit.” He froze. “If it’s alright with Ann, of course.” He turned to Ann. 

”Totally,” Ann’s grin was as wide and warm as the sun. “Come on, don’t be a stranger. It’s not going to be a super long time.”

Akechi still looked uncomfortable, shifting on his feet again. Ren knew that old Akechi, the one that remembered, wasn’t especially skilled in social situations with his peers, and it seemed like ‘Katsura’, the Akechi that didn’t remember, wasn’t exactly well versed in those types of situations either. He seemed to be weighing options in his mind, trying to decide what to do. Seemed to be fighting against something.

”If you want to, of course,” Ren said. He didn’t want to make the amnesiac man uncomfortable, make him feel like he was obligated to stay. Hopefully, he hadn’t come across as trying to pressure him, even give him the semblance of the idea that he was trying to control him. But, Ren had to be honest, he really did want him to stay. To want to stay.

”Since you insist,” Akechi relented, even though he seemed happier than his words implied. Ann patted the spot on the booth that she had left empty, and the standing man sat down.

”So…” Ann drawled, twirling the fork between her fingers, leaning closer to Akechi, as if about to share a secret. “What do you think of Ren?”

”I’m right here,” Ren rolled his eyes. A part of him wanted to hear the answer though.

”He’s right,” Akechi agreed. Was that a bit of red tinging the tips of his ears? No, it had to be a trick of the light.

”You’re no fun,” Ann pouted. “This is what I get for trying to help two friends out.”

”We’re friends?” Akechi asked. 

”Oh, uh.” Ann dipped the fork into the moist cake, “Kind of? It’s-“

”Complicated,” Akechi interrupted, his voice dripping with annoyance. “So I’ve heard.”

”Sorry. But, I mean, I did kinda want to hang out more with you, you know? We didn’t really get the chance to. Especially after-“ She stopped herself. “But it is uh. It’s good to see you again. I know Ren’s happy, too.” In a stage whisper, “Even if he doesn’t say it.”

”Ann…” Ren moaned. Maybe this was a mistake. Should have told Akechi that he’d see him later, text him later, do something that didn’t involve him getting with Ann.

”Oh, shut up, you know I’m right,” She grinned. Ren was loathe to admit that yes, she was. “Anyway, Katsura, what’s your contact information?”

The aforementioned man looked surprised. “My contact information?”

Ann overdramatically rolled her eyes. “Come on, your contact information. I’m going to be in town for the next few days, and I’ll be busy, but we totally need to go somewhere. Catch up and all.” She paused. “You’re up for that, yeah?”

Seemingly overwhelmed, maroon eyes glanced across the table to meet Ren’s dark steel ones. Ren shrugged in a way he hoped communicated that there was nothing to worry about. And also nothing he could do. Once Ann got an idea in her head, there was little that could be done about deterring her from it. That was something that Ren and the rest of their friends had learned years ago.

”I am new to the area,” Akechi confessed, “and it would be nice to have a few more friends. I’ll see if I can make time.” He pulled out his phone, tapped on the screen a few times where Ren couldn’t see it, and passed it to Ann. “Here it is.”

Ann grabbed the phone, pulled out her own, and typed in the information. She slid it back over to him. “Ooh, you are totally going to the mall with me soon.”

”I look forward to it.”

”You might regret that, Katsura,” Ren took a sip from his nearly empty water glass. Ann indignantly stuck out her tongue. 

The brown haired man chuckled. “Maybe. She doesn’t seem so bad, however.” He jumped as Ann grabbed his arm with one hand, using the other to point at Ren.

”You see what I have to put up with?” She joked, voice filled with faux despair, “That’s it. Ak- Katsura’s my new best friend now. He’s nice to me.” Ren looked from one face to the other. Akechi only shrugged. What am I supposed to do about this, the shrug seemed to convey. Utter betrayal. 

Ren clutched at his chest. “I’m heartbroken.” Ann laughed and Akechi snorted.

”You really are quite the joker, aren’t you Ren?” Akechi chuckled. Ann and Ren froze for the second time that evening.

Did he remember something? Does he know something? Was he starting to remember or was it just a simple statement? Ren’s mind raced at a thousand miles an hour, asking questions and just as quickly shutting them down as paranoia. He was absolutely sure that Akechi wasn’t faking his amnesia. No, he definitely, one-hundred percent had memory loss. But what if he’s playing you, a voice in the back of his mind kept whispering, it wouldn’t be the first time. Ren shoved that thought to the back of his mind, stuffed it in a mental box and shoved it in the darkest recesses he could find. 

Ann appeared to having some of the same thoughts. She looked frozen in time, her fork frozen hovering right above the last bite of cake, teal eyes wide, other hand still gripped to the arm of the man next to her. Even Morgana had stopped eating his fish and was looking up at the brown haired man on the other side of the table.

”Are you both alright?” Akechi’s voice wavered a bit in confusion, and, if Ren wasn’t misunderstanding, a bit of concern. “Was it something I said?” He looked from Ann to Ren, and back again.

Ren knew he was waiting for an answer. And he really, really did want to give him one. Just to brush it off, say it’s fine, it was nothing, but Akechi wasn’t stupid, and saying something like that was far more likely to make him even more suspicious. Hearing his voice say ‘joker’ again, even in a context like that, even if it was something entirely unrelated, was something that he never thought he would hear again.

The longer he didn’t say anything, the more suspicious Akechi would be, Ren knew that. Come on, think. Say something. Say anything. But say something that’s got to be believable, and not entirely a lie.

”It was a nickname,” Ren said slowly, trying to hide how carefully he was picking each of the words. “I just… I just haven’t heard it in a long time.” From you. He’d heard it plenty of times from everyone else. Ann looked at Ren, an eyebrow slightly lifted, but seemed to understand the unspoken part. She didn’t question it.

”We’re just surprised to hear you say it, is all.” She released her grip on his arm. “But… you don’t remember that, right?” A leading question. Ren didn’t know which answer he’d prefer Akechi to say.

Akechi looked down, not meeting anyone’s eyes, not even Morgana’s. “I’m sorry, I really don’t.” Ren knew the answer was coming, but still felt a weight plummet inside him regardless. The mood at the table chilled, became solemn, like a dark cloud had fallen over it.

”So, uh,” Ann’s bright cheery tone attempted to lighten the mood, “Do you want to hear about what this awful girl did during a recent photo shoot?”

”A photoshoot?” Akechi rubbed the part of his arm that Ann had been grabbing. 

”She’s a model,” Ren interjected. Talking about another subject might keep his restless mind from thinking thoughts he didn’t want to deal with. “A very good one.”

”Aw, thanks Ren,” Ann said, “I’ve already told Ren, but do you want to hear, too?” She stuck the final bite of cake in her mouth.

”Why not?” Akechi leaned back, “Let’s hear it.”

-

“What a bitch,” Akechi commented after Ann had finished her story. 

”I know right?” Ann threw her hands up, “Even talking about it again makes me all fired up. She’s the worst.” She took a long sip from her glass. 

”And there’s nothing you can do about it?”

”God, I wish. But not really.” 

Akechi opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but the buzzing of his phone stopped him. He pulled it from his pocket, seemed to check something, and turned back to the people (and cat) at the table.

”I’m terribly sorry,” He said, “But I really must get going.” Turning to Ren, “It was good to see you again, Ren,” And turning to Ann, “And it was great to meet you, as well, Takamaki but I-“

”Ann,” She interrupted. “Call me, Ann.” 

”If you insist,” He relented, “It was great to meet you, Ann. But I really must get going. I have… plans… soon. Again, terribly sorry.” He stood up to begin to leave.

”Not a date, is it?” Ann teased, blinking her long lashes. Akechi snorted. 

”Nothing of the sort.” His eyes lingered on Ren as he said it. “I’ll see you both around, I hope.”

”Of course,” Ren said, his eyes not leaving Akechi’s.

”Absolutely,” Ann agreed.

”Then I look forward to it,” Akechi nodded, and left.

The trio sat in silence for a short while as they started pulling out the bills and coins to pay their checks. Wordlessly, but with a silent mutual understanding, they went to the counter to pay, and left the restaurant.

”So…” Ann started. The pair were walking side by side on the sidewalk, Morgana poking out of Ren’s bag with his paws on Ren’s shoulders. 

”So…” Ren repeated. She ran a bit to walk in front of him, walking backwards so that she could face Ren. 

”We definitely need to talk about you and ‘Katsura.’”

Ren shrugged. “Not really, no.”

”C’mon Ren, it’s me. You helped me out with Shiho, so I’m going to help you out with Akechi.” She winked.

”There’s nothing to talk about between me and Akechi,” He kept his eyes on the path behind Ann, making sure that there wouldn’t be anything for her to run into. 

”Uh-huh. I’m not blind. You’re both totally-“ 

”Pole,” Ren interrupted. Ann peaked around her shoulder and hopped out of the way of a street light.

”Thanks! But as I was saying, you have to tell him.”

Ren’s heart started pounding. He really did not want to have to lie to Ann. “Tell him what?” Please don’t say tell him about his past or name. Please don’t-

”That you have a thing for him.” Ann winked. The dark haired man opened his mouth to speak but Ann cut him off, “Don’t deny it. I’m not going to force you to, but I am going to def help you out with this.” He opened his mouth again to try to protest, to deny that he ‘totally had a thing for him’ (a lie) and that he didn’t need help (probably not a lie), but Ann cut him off again, turned back around, and walked beside him, “You’ll thank me later.”

Ren wasn’t sure if he would. But even a change of heart wouldn’t change Ann’s mind once it was made up. While it was a trait that Ren often admired, sometimes, in situations like this, he sometimes wished she could at least be persuaded.

”You won’t tell anyone, will you?” He hoped Ann understood what he was talking about. 

”Of course, not.” She clearly did. Ren breathed a sigh of relief. Bless Takamaki Ann. 

While he did dread what sort of plans Ann might concoct, he was glad that she and Akechi seemed to be getting along quite well. And that she wasn’t pressing any matters.

”What about me?” Morgana cried, feeling left out. “I want to be included.”

Ann reached up and scratched the cat’s head. “You’re always included, Mona.”

”Don’t forget it!” He mewed. “Now hurry home! I want to stretch my legs!”

”Very demanding for a cat,” Ren teased and reached up to try and pet him, but only got a play nip in return. “Hey!” 

Ren walked noticeably slower on purpose on their way home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for the comments and kudos and bookmarks and clicks, it really means a lot, especially as this is my first fic and I wasn't expecting anything at all really, lol. Anyway, sorry if the end feels a bit abrupt, I kinda had issues trying to figure out how to end it. Already have started on the next chapter, so might be out before Saturday! If nothing comes up, of course. Thanks again for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

When Ren, Ann, and Morgana entered the apartment, they were met with the loud noises of a sentai show. Ah. Ren had forgotten that the new season of Featherman was starting tonight. He wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but had seen a few seasons due to Futaba’s devotion to the show. As expected, when they entered the living room, the orange haired girl was plopped on the couch, in front of the large television, watching as Featherman Red was giving a speech in front of some sort of monster.

”We’re home, Futaba,” Ren said.

”Shhhh!” Futaba shushed, “TV’s on. Wait.” Her gaze didn’t leave the television. Ann snickered. Morgana trotted over towards the couch to sit next to Futaba, who completely ignored his presence, curling up into a tight black ball. Even if she couldn’t see him, Ren held up his hands in mock defeat, motioning to Ann to follow him to his room. He’d long learned his lesson about making any unnecessary noises while Featherman was on. 

He quietly closed the door completely. If Mona wanted in, he could scratch or Futaba could let him in, Ren reasoned. Ann plopped down on his bed. 

”I’d almost forgotten how she gets with her shows,” Ann reminisced. 

”Oh, you should have seen her when Ryuji wouldn’t get off of his game and her show was coming on. It was almost a bloodbath.” Ren folded up his bag, tossing it next to his desk before he joined Ann on the bed.

”Oh? Who won?”

”Futaba, of course.” He leaned in, “Don’t tell her, but Ryuji let her win.”

”That’s our Ryuji.” She pulled out her phone, checking the time. Without looking up, “When does it end?”

”What?”

”The show she’s watching. When does it end?”

Ren shrugged, “I don’t know? Maybe in twenty minutes?” He paused, suspicious. “Why?”

It was Ann’s turn to shrug. “No reason.” Ren narrowed his eyes. What kind of game was she playing? What exactly was she planning? Ann laughed. “Don’t look at me like that. It was just a question.”

Ren kept narrowing his eyes, searching for any hint of what Ann was thinking. Twenty minutes wasn’t a lot of time to do much, but they’d done more in less before. There was also the sneaking, pervasive feeling that whatever she was planning, or at least thinking of, had something to do with the person that they had just seen at the restaurant. She was absolutely planning something regarding him, the more Ren thought about it the more sure he was. 

He sighed. “If you say so.” No point pushing her. If he was lucky, she’d forget about it, about him, after seeing everyone else this weekend. Even if the chance was incredibly slim, little to none. But stranger things had happened before as well. 

Ren jumped as there was a sudden weight on his shoulder. He turned his head, and ended up with a face full of soft, blonde hair.

”I’ve really missed you guys,” Ann said, leaning against her friend, head on his shoulder. Ren, using the arm that wasn’t helping support the girl leaning on him, brushed the hair out of his face, patting it down, and doing his best not to completely mess it up. Or, at the very least, he hoped he didn’t mess it up. It wasn’t like he was especially skilled or knowledgeable in regards to hair styles. Honestly, he just woke up, ran his hands through his hair, and went about his day. 

”I’ve really missed you, too. And I know Ryuji and Futaba are the same.” He paused, voice lowering to a whisper. “And thanks. For… you know.”

”Hm?” 

”Not saying anything. About…him.”

It still felt weird to say his name. Thinking it, yeah, that was fine. God knows that Ren had thought about him quite a lot throughout the years. But saying it out loud? Never. Everyone, even Morgana and Ryuji and Futaba had somehow never brought him up to Ren. It had always been a taboo topic. Ren had once suspected that they had all had a meeting of some sorts without him, where they all made a vow to not bring him up to Ren. But he knew that wasn’t true. They were his friends, they knew him. And that meant that they knew, or at least thought it best, not to bring up certain things, or certain people. Well, Ren hadn’t brought him up either. The last time he had mentioned Akechi to anyone (before his sudden reappearance, of course) had to be back after the ‘train station incident’, as Futaba referred to it the few times she brought it up. 

”Oh, that,” Ann said, “Of course. But, well… I am serious, Ren. If you need to talk about anything, don’t hesitate.”

”I won’t.” I’m sorry, he wanted to say. He would tell her, eventually. He would. But not now. Now wasn’t the best time. But he would. Soon. Despite that resolve, the guilt still settled in.

Ann hummed as acknowledgement, seemingly content with the answer. Guilt buried deeper in.

”If it’s okay with you, we’ll set your futon out in the living room. After Futaba’s finished, of course.” He’d originally planned on letting her sleep in Futaba’s room, but the younger girl’s room was so full of various items, from computer parts to anime merchandise to textbooks for classes she didn’t even take, that there was no room on the floor to set one up. Hopefully, Ann would be okay with it.

No response from Ann. That was odd. It wasn’t like her to ignore him, and he was sure she had been able to hear him. He tried to lean, to better see her face, careful not to topple her head from its’ perch on his shoulder. Was she… asleep? Her eyes were closed, breath had steadied to a soft, even rhythm. Though he was a bit surprised, it wasn’t as if he was caught entirely off-guard. She had spent most of the day traveling, after all, and really hadn’t rested since she arrived. And that wasn’t even adding in having met a formerly assumed dead kind-of-teammate unplanned. 

Even as his shoulder was starting to ache under the weight of her head, Ren couldn’t find it in himself to be mad or frustrated. Just had to be careful not to wake her. At least, not wake her up until after Futaba cleared the living room and they could set up Ann’s futon, and let her sleep on something that wasn’t Ren. 

A buzzing in his back pocket made him jump. Oh shit, his phone. His eyes slid to Ann. Now came the hard part: trying to move and not wake her up. A little shimmy and keeping his shoulder as still as he could later, his phone was in his free hand, and Takamaki Ann was still thankfully asleep.

-

Ryuji: you home  
Ren: Yeah  
Ren: In my room with Ann  
Ren: She’s asleep btw  
Ryuji: ok cool  
Ryuji: just got home  
Ryuji: guess come get me when futabas done  
Ren: Aye Aye Cap’n  
Ryuji: bro  


-

Ren’s eyes flicked to the top of his screen, to the clock. If his guess was right, there was probably about ten minutes left. Unless it was a special or something. Hopefully it was just a normal length episode; he didn’t know if his increasingly numb shoulder and arm could handle another half hour. As subtly as he could, he tried to shift his shoulder as much as he could, just to get some more circulation or stretch the muscles ever so slightly, anything. A quiet grunt from Ann made him freeze. 

The things he did for his friends.

-

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Ren was the first of his friends to be awake and out of his room in the morning. It was an incredibly odd feeling, walking out into the living room, lights off, only the gentle morning sunlight coming through the cracks in the curtains illuminating his path. Normally, Ryuji would have, at the very least, turned on the lights to make himself breakfast before his morning run. They had been up late last night, after Futaba had given the rest of them clearance to enter the living room after her show had ended. Must still be asleep. He glanced over his shoulder. Morgana was sprawled over the bed, having moved to the still warm space Ren had left. No point in waking him.

He quietly made his way to the kitchen, stepping around the futon where Ann was still sleeping. Hm. While Ann was kind of a heavy sleeper, Ren wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk the at of making coffee waking her up. Well, he could always make coffee when she woke up. So he bit the bullet and snuck a canned coffee out of the refrigerator. 

All of that sneaking around inside people’s corrupt hearts seemed to have paid off, and Ren was surprised that he still had the skills, even as rusty as they were, as he made his way to the apartment’s outdoor balcony.

He leaned on the railing, one hand holding the coffee, the other holding his phone, staring out over the sea of rooftops and roads of the city. God, he was not meant to be up this early. 6:30 in the morning was not a time he ever wanted to be sentient. And yet, here he was, standing on the balcony, with a shitty emergency coffee in his hand.

It wasn’t often he got to be alone like this. And honestly, he wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.

Being alone, this was as good a time as any. He set his coffee down on the railing, saying a silent prayer to any god that it wouldn’t fall and kill a poor passerby. Scrolling down his phone’s contact list until he saw the name he was looking for.

He wasn’t enough of an asshole to call this early in the morning. But texting? That was another story. Just a quick question, asking to call when she was free. Hopefully she wouldn’t be mad. And hopefully she would honor his request. Though, there was no reason she wouldn’t.

The morning air was still a bit brisk, not completely warmed by the sun yet, and after leaning on the metal bar of the railing, the cold was starting to seep in. Taking that as his cue to head back in, and at least get dressed for his one class on Saturday mornings. Hopefully Ann would wake up fairly soon and he would be able to make himself so actually decent coffee. With the plans to meet with everyone in the afternoon, he definitely needed the boost. 

-

”Yusuke… are you going to spend all day in front of this exhibit?” Ann tapped Yusuke’s shoulder. The dark-haired man jumped, seemingly knocked out of his trance.

”Hm? Is there a problem?” Yusuke did not look away from the spider crab standing in front of him, behind a few inches of glass. It swayed softly in the water, snapping the claws at the end of its long arms. Ren wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but he could almost swear that it felt like Yusuke and the crustacean were having a staring contest.

”Not exactly,” Ann started, “But there are others to see you know?” They had been in front of this tank for close to ten minutes. 

”I mean, we did bring him to an aquarium,” Makoto pointed out, “Maybe this should have been expected?” Haru nodded in agreement beside her. Makoto continued, “Though I do have to agree that it’d be nice to get moving a bit.”

Yusuke apparently took offense at the suggestion. “But-“ He was interrupted by Ryuji coming up from behind him, slapping his arm around the taller man’s shoulder, a large grin plastered on his face.

”C’mon man, just take a picture or somethin’,” Ryuji started to pull Yusuke away, “We’ve got a whole aquarium to see.” Yusuke opened his mouth to say something, but Ryuji cut him off once again, “Nah, before you say it, we’re not leavin’ you behind.”

”No man left behind,” Futaba cheered. “Onward!” She pointed down the hall.

Yusuke gave Ren a look that was begging him to say something, anything. Ren only shrugged, transforming Yusuke’s look into one that was full of betrayal. Yusuke sighed, and turned away from the crab, but not before sharing a longing gaze with it. The crab simply kept twitching its mandibles in response. And with that, he was pulled away down the hallway.

Being a Saturday afternoon, the aquarium was quite busy. But it wasn’t so busy that they were unable to see anything, nor was it so busy that there was any struggle to get from one room to the next. It was Ann’s idea to go to an aquarium, and they all thought it was a good idea.

Ren walked at the back of the group. The hallway was wide, but not wide enough for them to all walk in one massive group, so everyone had paired off. Futaba was talking to Ann, Ryuji seemed to be consoling Yusuke about having been pulled away from his new aquatic friend, and of course, Haru and Makoto were walking side by side, fingers laced together. Morgana popped his head out of the bag.

”Ooh, what’s next?” He asked. Ren shushed him, and gently pushed him back in.

”Hey. Be careful, if anyone sees you they might kick us out,” Ren whispered. He checked the map in his hand. “But next is the open seas.” He heard Mona meow in response. Another shush. 

Haru must have heard them, because she glanced over her shoulder, mentioned something to her girlfriend that Ren couldn’t hear, and fell in line beside him.

”It feels like it’s been quite a while since we’ve talked one on one,” She said, brushing down unnoticeable wrinkles in her dress. “We really ought to talk more often.”

”It’s not really one-on-one, Morgana’s here,” Ren dryly pointed out, a bit of a smirk on his face. Haru giggled.

”That’s very true, isn’t it?” Her hands were clasped behind her back. “Though, it is probably more of my fault. Things have been quite busy at the company lately.” Her voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper, “Mako has been on my case about it.” She smiled. 

”Futaba could always hack it, give you a break while your computer guys figure it out.”

Haru’s grin grew wider. “Hm… I might have to take her up on that offer.” A mischievous glint in her eyes. “It would help to give the boys some practice. I do fear that they may have gotten a bit complacent.”

”I won’t tell Makoto about it if you won’t.”

”You certainly don’t need to worry about that.” She turned her eyes to Makoto, still walking in front of them, but was now joining in on Futaba and Ann’s conversation. “I could also ask some of my people to look into him.” There was a hint of ice in her voice.

Ren kept his own voice light. “What do you mean?”

”Ren, please don’t do this with me. I do trust you, I really, truly do, but I do not trust him at all. I am aware that Ryuji and Futaba have agreed with you that he doesn’t seem to be faking his condition, but he’s tricked us before.” Her voice was as even as a pond frozen over in winter.

”Haru I-“

The heiress’s eyes were now trained on Futaba, “You know what he did, Ren. Do not ever mistake my pity for forgiveness.” She turned back to Ren, the cold exterior now hidden once again under the warm Haru that was more often seen, “And please, do think on my offer. There are some things that I may be able to uncover that may be more difficult for Futaba.”

Ren swallowed. “Of course. I’ll think on it.” His mind desperately searched for something, anything to change the subject. “How’s your coffee shop doing?”

Haru’s eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands together. “Oh, it’s doing positively fantastic!” She started talking about various business terms that Ren had no true understanding of, and various coffee beans and mixes that he did, and was able to add input on.

As they kept talking, and moving in front of the giant tank in the ‘open ocean’ exhibit, Ren couldn’t force down the knowledge that the conversation with Haru wasn’t over. He knew what she’d prefer him to do, prefer the group to do, which would be, at the very least, avoid Akechi Goro. Ren couldn’t help but feel guilty that he couldn’t do that. He didn’t want to, and he felt like that was something that he was not able to do.

A large shark cast a shadow over the group as it swam in front of the light. Futaba, Yusuke, and Ryuji cheered in delight, Ann desperately tried to get a good photograph, and Haru had returned to her place beside Makoto. Ren followed the shark’s path.

He couldn’t shake the sense of dread that settled in his stomach whenever he questioned how the hell he was going to get through this entire situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like if you go to an aquarium and don't feel a weird bond with at least one animal, then you really haven't been to an aquarium tbh
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! And again, please point out if there's been any errors. Moved back home last week due to an internship ending, so it's been a bit hectic. Also I've really been struggling with Hollow Knight. It's a good game, but goddamn am I bad at platformers


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late chapter,, I know I normally try to get this updated on Saturday, but stuff came up... Here it is though!

”And what were the components of Plato’s argument?” Akechi tapped the butt of the pen on the table in a hypnotically rhythmic fashion. It was a good thing that there weren’t many other people in the university’s library on a Sunday night, which was a bit odd. But then again, it was decently early in the semester; most people didn’t have a lot of work, or weren’t starting on projects as soon as they got them, unlike some people.

He waited. No response from the black-haired man on the other side of the table. More waiting. The tapping of the pen sped up, quicker, annoyance filling every beat. A huff mixed with a sigh. Dropping the pen, he leaned back, brushed his bangs back into their proper place.

”What were the components of Plato’s argument?” Each of the words in the repeated question were enunciated, pointed. Still no response. Akechi leaned over, grabbed an empty wrapper, balled it up, and tossed it in Ren’s direction. It hit its mark, directly on top of his head, bouncing off the messy black hair and onto the table. But that seemed to be enough.

With a thunk, Ren’s head slipped off of the hand propping it up, slamming onto the table. The noise ricocheted through the sparsely populated floor, causing a few people at distant tables to look over, curious about what had caused it. Ren moaned, then sat up, rubbing his forehead.

”What was that for?” He muttered as he righted himself, voice still heavy with sleep.

”I didn’t do anything,” Akechi retorted. “You, and gravity, did that all on your own. If anything, I was but the catalyst.” He paused. “Are you alright?”

”I’ve had worse,” Ren groaned as he started doing neck stretches. He felt like his neck was more sore than it should have been. Relief flooded through him after he cracked it. That was better.

”Ah. I’m glad to hear that,” Akechi picked his pen back up, “Now would you please at least attempt to stay awake?” He didn’t wait for any sort of confirmation from Ren, continuing, “Now, what were the main components of Plato’s argument?” Ren muttered something under his breath. Akechi raised an eyebrow, leaned in a bit. “I didn’t catch that?”

Ren picked up his own pen, twirling it between his fingers. “Plato was a bitch.”

Akechi made a noise that sounded suspiciously like someone covering up a snort with a cough. He covered his mouth with his unoccupied hand, though Ren could have sworn he saw the beginnings of a small smile. By the time the hand lowered, his face had returned to one that was serious. “That may be true, but it doesn’t exactly help you pass the class.” 

”You don’t know that. That could be the title of my final paper. ‘Plato was a Bitch and Here’s Why.”

”Only Plato?”

Ren shrugged. “It’s still early in the semester. It’s just a working title.”

”I do hope you’ll let me read it.”

”Of course.”

”Now,” Akechi leaned on his other hand and started tapping the pen once again. His eyes met Ren’s. “Are you going to answer the question?”

”What question?” Ren blinked his eyes in a way he hoped was endearing. Give him time to bullshit an answer. The spinning of the pen in his hand got faster. Come on, think. Think. He had to have retained at least some of the reading he had done before his unplanned nap.

Akechi only rolled his eyes. “Ren, you re-“ He was interrupted by his phone buzzing on the table. Ren breathed a sigh of relief. He waited for Akechi to continue scolding him, for him to have to admit that no, he had no idea what was going on in Plato’s argument, but the other man just kept tapping away at his phone, apparently in a conversation.

Ren sneakily slid the book in front of him, cracking it open, and attempted to skim the assigned reading, hoping that maybe he’d be able to glean and retain any sort of information in how ever little time he had left before Akechi was done. 

It wasn’t entirely Ren’s fault that he’d fallen asleep. He’d just had a long day, and a busy weekend. Early that day, everyone had walked Ann to the train station to see her off. Then he had to try and catch up on some of his readings before he took Akechi up on his offer to study together for their class tomorrow. 

None of the words he was reading were sticking. He was reading the words, yes. He understood the words, yes. Was he remembering them, or the meaning of the sentence after he finished reading it? No.

He looked up at the man across from him, still intensely occupied with his phone. Ren checked the time, glanced back up at Akechi. After weighing his choices, Ren cleared his throat.

Akechi jumped a little bit, finished whatever he was typing, and sheepishly set down his phone. “My apologies,” He said, “Now where were we?”

”Oh, you’re not getting off the hook that easily, detective,” Ren teased, “You abandon me for…” He checked the clock on his phone, “ten minutes. At least tell me if you have a partner and aren’t just leading me on.”

Akechi rolled his eyes, “Hardly. If you really must know-“ 

”And I do,” Ren interrupted. Akechi glared at the dark haired man.

”As I was saying,” Clearly annoyed at being interrupted, “It’s Ann. She’s quite… talkative.”

Ren raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Oh.” He didn’t know why he was as surprised as he was; he’d always suspected that if circumstances had been different, maybe Ann and Akechi would have gotten along. “You two are getting along?”

”So far, though…” Akechi stopped, picking his next words more carefully. “Is there a reason you haven’t told them that I know? My name?” He paused. “You don’t need to worry though. I haven’t told her. But I’m still curious.”

Shit. Though, this was something that he should have expected. Ren shifted uncomfortably.

”There was some…” Now really wasn’t the best time, or, considering that there were other people that could certainly hear the conversation, for that specific conversation, “bad blood, between you and some others in the group,” Seeing Akechi’s expression, “Not between you and Ann though, as far as I know. But well,” Ren sighed. “I’ll tell Ann, don’t worry.” That sped up his tentative timeline a bit, but hopefully this would keep Akechi from digging deeper. 

”Bad blood?” Clearly it didn’t.

”Some… stuff happened.” Please don’t ask, please don’t ask, please do-. 

”Like what?” When Ren didn’t answer, Akechi huffed. “Fine. I did do some research. You know what they say, about things on the internet staying forever.”

Ren sucked in a breath. There wouldn’t be anything about his other career, would there? Most of the conspiracy theories online were related to him running away with a lover, or something equally unlikely. Nothing about how the teen heartthrob had been moonlighting as a supernatural assassin for a government conspiracy. But… having known Futaba, he knew that there was more on the internet than he thought, and it was possible that something had slipped below his, and Futaba’s, radar.

”There are a lot of theories about what happened to hi- to me. I don’t suppose many, if any, have a hint of truth in them?” Ren shrugged noncommittedly.

”Who was I to say that you didn’t run off to join the circus?” 

”Who’s to say I didn’t? I think I’d make an excellent tiger tamer.” A wry smile.

”I was thinking more of a clown,” Ren returned the grin. Akechi rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling.

”You avoided the question.” Akechi’s smile dropped, voice fell serious. “None of them were even close, were they? The conspiracy theories?”

”Maybe the one about the yakuza was-“ Ren stopped when he saw yet another pointed look from the brown haired man. He sighed. “Yeah, I don’t think anyone got close.” Even Sojiro, who had known about the Metaverse and the Conspiracy, seemed to have had difficulty believing them.

“But you suspect why?” Ren nodded. He had never been so desperate to go back to discussing homework that he was not prepared to do. “And you’ll tell me… when?”

Ren swallowed. “Yes.”

”When?”

”Not today.”

Akechi crossed his arms, “ You can’t keep stringing me on forever. I have questions about other things as well.”

”I… I know,” Ren rubbed the back of his neck, “Just. Not tonight, yeah? I’m sorry, I am. But… not here? Not tonight?” Akechi’s eyes kept hold on Ren’s. 

”I’m holding you to that, Amamiya Ren,” After what felt like an eternity, Akechi looked away from Ren, uncrossed his arms, turned back to the notebook and book on the table below him. “Now…” He picked up the pen again, “Are you going to answer me about the components of Plato’s argument?”

Ren groaned. Let the suffering resume.

-

After the study session, they parted ways. Akechi, on his way to the train station to get to wherever he came from, and Ren in the opposite direction, walking towards his shared apartment.

Things were moving… fast. Ren was well aware of that. God, tomorrow morning made a week since Akechi walked back into his life. And things were moving fast. He didn’t know if that was a good thing, not yet, and he wasn’t exactly sure how much he liked it. But, well, he couldn’t say he didn’t like it.

It’s not like he had any delusions that if Akechi were to show up again, no matter how unlikely it would be, that they would just be able to pick up right where they left off, shed the years and pretend it had only been yesterday since he last saw him. No, there was too much there, too much grieving, too much left unsaid. Ren hadn’t expected it to be so easy to slip back into a rhythm with him. It wasn’t entirely the same, though, with Akechi’s softened edges and more open nature. Little by little, either Akechi was getting more comfortable with him, or he was starting to act like his old self again. Ren didn’t know which one. Frankly, he was afraid to ask.

That reminded him. He slipped his hand from his pocket, pulling out the phone with it. A simple seven word text to Ann: ‘You can call him Akechi. He knows.’ The phone was put away before he could get a response. That was something to be dealt with by a future Ren, not the one that had had a long day and had just finished working on philosophy homework. He trusted Ann, knew her well enough, to not tell anyone. However, that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t ask questions. She wasn’t stupid, she’d know something was up. Maybe when he got home, he’d deal with it if she’d responded in that time, but for now, he was content to walk in silence, alone with his thoughts.

If only things were simpler. Though, Ren sardonically thought, when had things ever been simple between Akechi and him? It had always been a complicated dance, both knowing things that the other was trying to hide, but not wanting to be the first one to give way. Words unspoken, truths untold. Even when Ren had thought that all had been laid bare, that maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to start on even ground, no more secrets, no more hidden sides. But even that had been a lie, hadn’t it? Akechi had known. He had known and he hadn’t said anything, keeping Ren in the dark while they undertook a mission that he knew would lead him to his own demise. 

Ren kicked a small rock that had fallen onto the sidewalk, probably broken off from the old stone wall that hugged the pathway. He hadn’t even gotten a proper goodbye. The rock clattered into the gutter. 

His phone started to buzz in his pocket, knocking Ren out of his thoughts. At only the first buzz, he had assuming that it was Ann messaging him back, full of questions, asking for answers. Instead, it kept buzzing. He hadn’t expected her to have that much to say, but maybe Ann was full of surprises. While he still didn’t want to deal with it at the moment, deal with the consequences of his actions, but he could at least silence it and stop the buzzing.

To his surprise, when he pulled it out and checked, just to see how many texts he was getting, he saw that it wasn’t from Ann, nor was the buzzing from texts. It was a phone call. Ren’s heart sped up. Sure, he’d asked for her to contact him when she was available yesterday morning, but he hadn’t expected her to get back to him so quickly. Shaking fingers answered the call, lifting the phone to his ear.

”It’s Niijima Sae. Is now a bad time?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I've never taken a philosophy class, once again, shout out to a friend for telling me what you do in one  
> Heads up that if the next chapter isn't up by late Saturday (Oct 31st), then it'll be up either on Monday, like this one, or maybe just a whole week break, depending on how stuff shakes out. Just got.... a decent amount going on right now. Especially with brain stuff. Anyway! Enough of that! Thanks for reading! And again, any issues you see, just comment and I'll do my best to fix them! Hope you enjoyed!  
> I do have a twitter for this stuff that I do use to update when chapters come out/any delays, and just other stuff in general! Link should be somewhere in one of the notes of the past chapters, if i don't add it here at some point lmao


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late-ish chapter! Been a busy weekend and week!

Ren froze. He really hadn’t expected her to get back to him so soon. Honestly, considering the defense attorney’s schedule, he would have been surprised if she had gotten back to him by the following Friday, at the earliest.

Calm down, calm down. Life was all about unexpected events. Even if this one wasn’t entirely unexpected; he had asked her to call when she could, after all. No, wait. If anything, this was a good thing. Get the needed information faster than expected. 

”Amamiya, are you there?” Sae’s voice came through the phone’s receiver. “If now’s not a good time-“

”Nah,” Ren cut her off, voice even and smooth as he moved off the sidewalk and leaned against the cool brick wall of a closed store. There was no way for Sae to tell that his hands were still shaking. C’mon, keep playing it cool, Joker, he told himself. “Now’s great. What’s up?”

”I feel I should be the one asking you that,” Sae responded. Oh. Right.

”Has Makoto told you about the reappearance of a certain former coworker of yours?” It was no secret to anyone that the sisters had really rekindled their relationship following Sae’s change of heart. The journey hadn’t been an easy one, there had been difficulties. Words couldn’t be so easily forgotten once said. But time, and the determination to do better, to be better, did wonders.

”She did.” Her voice lowered a bit, a bit breathier, “While I do trust you all, and I do owe you quite a fair bit, I do have to ask: you are sure it’s him?”

”One hundred percent sure,” Ren would recognize him anywhere. Now time for why he called. “You didn’t know, did you?”

”Know what?”

”That he was alive.”

The sound of her letting out a deep breath. A sigh, maybe? “I didn’t. Believe me, I would have told you if I had heard any legitimate rumors regarding his survival.”

”So you’ve heard some non-legitimate rumors then?”

”Haven’t you?” Sae countered. Ren had to giver her that. 

”Touché. But,” Even though he was on the phone, Ren shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I’ve been meaning to ask, did you… did you ever look into it? Him? Being gone?”

Sae made a noise that assured Ren that she was now certainly pinching the bridge of her nose. “You know I’m not with the SIU anymore, don’t you? I don’t exactly have the resources I had back then.”

”But…” Ren led.

”But,” Sae picked up, “I do know some people, and they know people and so on, so yes, I did.” She didn’t continue.

”And?” Ren asked. 

”There wasn’t much to find, to be honest. Nothing about his files was abnormal.” That wasn’t any surprise. Futaba had come up with the same information when Ren had asked her to look into it. Guess it was a false hope that maybe Sae would have found something different in the paper, non-digital files. Of course Shido and his associates would have made sure that everything for Akechi’s public job was completely legal, normal, and on the books. “As for his disappearance? No one looked into it more than they had to. I suspect that had something to do with his associates. Though, it may be more that they don’t want to admit that they were being fooled by a teenager.”

”Thanks for trying at least.”

”I do owe you kids,” Sae said, “If I find out anything related to him, I’ll let you know.”

”Thanks again, ma’am. Sorry about all this.” Sae was a busy woman after all.

”Think nothing of it. Don’t forget to focus on your studies.” She paused. “Please be careful, Ren.”

Ah. Of course she would be concerned. She’d seen the state he’d been in in the interrogation room, after Akechi’s betrayal had sent him in there. She knew about the attempt on his life. The very same attempt that was so, so close to failing. Even though a part of him was starting to get annoyed at everyone telling him that, everyone telling him to ‘be careful’ and ‘watch your back’, he couldn’t bring himself to do that. It was simply people showing that they cared about him, and he couldn’t fault anyone for that. If he was being honest with himself, it made him a tiny bit happy that they cared that much. 

”I am,” He said. There was a sound that sounded like Sae was letting out a breath.

”I’m glad to hear that.” A pause, and a sound over the phone, like she was covering it with her hand, then the muffled sounds of her voice talking to someone else. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.” Ren didn’t even get to say a response before the click, and he was met with the silence of an ended call. 

He didn’t move from his spot leaning on the wall. Well, that confirmed his, and Makoto’s, suspicions: there was definitely some sort of suppression of information regarding the disappearance of Akechi Goro. While they had been under the assumption that they might have been covering up his death, it seems things were a bit more complicated than that. 

He wasn’t looking forward to the amnesiac detective learning about that.

But… it didn’t seem like anyone was going to come looking for him. If Akechi was telling the truth (and Ren was operating under the assumption that he was), he had not only gone to and finished high school but also got through the application process to college, without really changing his appearance, without anyone coming to arrest him.

That was some sort of comfort, Ren thought as he slipped the phone back into his pocket, pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning on, and continued on his way back to his shared apartment. 

-

As much as Ren wanted to focus (and he truly, desperately wanted to), there was something in his brain that was blocking him from doing so. Every time he looked at the words on the pages, no matter how many times he read the same sentence over and over again, nothing stuck. He leaned back on the bench, lookup up, lazily holding the book above his face with one hand.

This was for his major it was important that he retain the knowledge. And yet, someone didn’t bother to tell his brain. He sighed. He could only hope that the professor didn’t have a pop quiz or call on him or anything like that. A group of students walked on the path in front on him, laughing on their way to their next class. Ren wished he had had their joy at the moment. 

”What’s bonkin’?” Ryuji’s sudden voice almost made Ren drop the book right onto his face, but through some miracle, he didn’t. The dark haired man set down his book, turning to face the faux-blonde who had somehow approached him without Ren’s noticing.

”It’s been years, man, it’s not gonna stick,” Ren jokingly admonished with a smile. 

”You don’t know that. Gotta keep at it, you know? One day, I’m tellin’ you.” Ryuji sat down next to the bag containing a sleeping Morgana. Ren rolled his eyes. “Anyway, you’re free this weekend, yeah?”

Ren cocked an eyebrow. A weekend was a few days away. Ryuji was expecting a lot of planning from him. “As far as I know?”

”Hell yeah,” Ryuji said. “I already asked Futaba, and she’s free; Yusuke, too. Makoto and Haru have some shit to do or somethin’ so they’re busy. So-“

”Wait,” Ren interrupted, “What’s going on?”

”Oh. Oh yeah. Sorry, man. So you know that building they’ve been working downtown?” Ryuji seemed incredibly excited. Ren wasn’t entirely following, but went along with it anyway.

”Yes…” Ren said, still confused. “So they finished it?”

”Yeah! And you’ll never guess what it was!” Ryuji paused, clearly expecting his friend to guess. But it wasn’t Ren who was the first to guess.

”A fancy sushi place?” Morgana’s head popped out of the bag. “Ooh! Ooh! Wait, no! Is it one of those fancy restaurants where you can catch your own fish?”

”What? No. What’s with you and fish?” Ryuji said, reaching down to scratch the cat behind the ears. “Nevermind. No, it’s another mall.” He held up his hand to stop Ren’s inevitable protest that ‘there’s tons of malls around here, though?’. Continuing, “Yeah, yeah, I know. But! This one’s different. It’s got a,” He leaned in conspiratorially, “laser tag place.” His grin was stretched from ear to ear.

”Seriously?” Ren said. 

”One hundred percent serious. And I was thinkin’ we could all go this weekend? If you want to, of course.”

”Are you kidding? Yeah, I’m up for it.” Ren’s grin mirrored Ryuji’s. Now he had something tangible to look forward for the weekend. 

”Hell yeah!” They high fived.

And Ren suddenly had an idea. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good idea, or a bad idea, or just a neutral idea-idea. While it was something that he’d like, he didn’t know how well it would go over with the others. But, hey, it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?

”So, you, me, Futaba, and Yusuke makes four people,” He said slowly, trying to figure out how to say the thing that he was planning. Ryuji nodded. Ren’s math was solid. “So uh, could we make it five?”

Ryuji looked confused. Brown eyes looked down at the cat between then. “Morgana can’t hold a gun, though?” He didn’t seem entirely sure though. In his defense, weirder things had happened.

Ren looked away, turning back to study the way that the afternoon sun was filtering through the leaves above him. “We could always invite Akechi. Sorry, ‘Katsura’.” 

He didn’t have to look at Ryuji to know that he had narrowed his eyes suspiciously. The cat had also turned to look at his owner-slash-friend. 

”You’re serious?” Ryuji asked. The lack of response confirmed that, yes, his friend was serious. “Why? Are you, uh, sure getting him anywhere near a gun is a good idea?”

”It’s not a real gun, and I think he’d like it,” Ren answered, still not looking at him. “He doesn’t remember anything. And I don’t think he has any other friends. It’d be nice.” Good job, Ren, he thought to himself. Reasonable explanation. 

”Of course he’d like it, it’s got guns and he gets to shoot people,” The comment was dripping with contempt. “But… well… five is a better team than four.” Ren was starting to get his hopes up. “But if he tries any shit, it’s over. He’s out.”

”So you’re cool with my inviting him?” Ren turned back to Ryuji. His friend shrugged. 

”If you’re cool with it, I guess I am. You’ll have to ask Futaba and Yusuke, too.” Ren nodded in both acknowledgement and agreement. Of course. “But I’m serious, Ren. If he tries or does anything, he’s out. I don’t care if Ann says he’s cool now. I don’t trust him, but I trust you.”

It felt as if a huge weight was lifted off of Ren, a weight he didn’t know was there, and wasn’t entirely sure when it had appeared. “Thanks, Ryuji. I’ll ask him. I really owe you one.”

”You owe me a lot more than one,” There was a hint of a smile tugging at the edge of Ryuji’s mouth. 

”How many am I up to now?”

”Hm… At least twelve, I’m thinkin’,” Ryuji said. Ren laughed. 

It was probably a lot more than twelve.

-

Ren checked his phone again. The lack of notifications stared back at him, mocking him. It hadn’t even been half an hour, Ren berated himself. Some people actually did their homework at reasonable hours. Those people weren’t Ren, but they did exist. It wasn’t abnormal for people to be busy.

He didn’t know why he was so antsy about this whole thing. It wasn’t as if it was the first time he had invited him out somewhere. He’d done it plenty of times. And it wasn’t even the first time he’d invited Akechi out to places since his sudden return. But, this was the first time that he’d invited him out somewhere with a group. Every other time had just been the two of them; not even Morgana came most of the time, instead choosing to roam the area or stay home. 

To be honest, he was surprised that Futaba and Yusuke had agreed so readily. Don’t get him wrong, Ren was thankful for it, but was surprised nonetheless. He’d waited until he got back to his apartment after classes to ask Futaba in person, and since that wasn’t an option for Yusuke, had gotten his approval over text. Almost immediately after getting the go ahead from Futaba, he’d sent a text to Akechi, simply inviting him to go to the new laser tag place downtown with him and some friends. 

And he hadn’t gotten a reply.

He checked the phone again. Still no response. Still no indication that it had been read. Come on, Ren. Get it together. He’s got other stuff to do, things that are due tomorrow or the next day and that he hasn’t even started on. 

He turned back to his laptop, where a blank document also stared back at him, not mockingly, but more disappointingly. Disappointed in Ren. A twang of guilt and shame shot through Ren. The reading response wasn’t long, and it was a participation grade, he wouldn’t be graded on how well it was done, only that it was. But oh, how badly Ren didn’t want to do it. Eyes slid over to the cat that was curled up on the bed. If he offered Morgana some food, would he be willing to do it in Ren’s stead? 

Just as he was considering asking the cat as much, his phone buzzed. Ren grabbed it so quickly that he almost fumbled it. A message notification gleefully looked back at him. 

”I’d love to,” Akechi had written. “Send me the time and place at your earliest convenience.”

Ren smiled to no one but himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just because I'm getting this out so late (time wise, like early morning), do tell me if there's any issues or anything! Also thank you all so much for the comments and bookmarks and reading! This really got waaaay more attention than I thought it would and I'm super thankful! And sorry the weekly updates have bene sporadic. Assuming everything goes okay this week, should be back to my regular Saturday-Sunday updates. Hope you enjoyed!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for lack of chapter last week!

_”People come and they go”_ , the sultry voice of the singer begins. Her hands cup the microphone, like she is sharing some secret that is to be kept only between her and it, and definitely not for the ears of the people in the jazz club. The club isn’t terribly busy; enough for a good night, but not enough that the murmur of the guests’ conversations drown out the music. It was like this last time, and the time before. Ren doesn’t have any proof, but it’s probably like this every night. Always a good night. A perfect night. Just like Maruki wants it to be. A perfect night for everyone, everywhere, forever.

Except for Ren, that is. He doesn’t know why he was spared from Maruki’s wish granting, and frankly, he doesn’t really care that much. Maybe it is some fluke, maybe it is because of the way that Maruki got his powers. Figuring out that kind of stuff is more Futaba or Makoto’s forte. There isn’t no point thinking about it anyway; if all went to plan, this reality won’t be around for much longer. 

It could be worse, Ren muses. At least he isn’t the only one who seems to be without a wish. Though, as much as he’s asked, Akechi hasn’t even let a hint of what his wish is, if he has one. He’d asked the detective his theory on why it seems only the two of them were the only ones aware of the false nature of the reality from the beginning. Akechi had just shrugged, handwaved it as the power of the wildcard or something. 

Ren slides his eyes away from the singer, looking at the man on the other side of the table. No more masks, no more need to hide anything, Akechi is different than Ren was used to, but that isn’t a bad thing. If anything, he’s happy. Happy that at least now, after everything, Akechi doesn’t have to hide anything. Sure, he’s rude, he’s sardonic, he’s full of hard edges and sharp words, but he’s real. 

And he’s alive.

Ren wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Clearly, the dark haired teen isn’t being as subtle as he thinks he is, as copper eyes meet storm grey, and the ever present smirk returns to the older teen’s face.

”What?” He commands an answers more than he asks. Ren returns the smirk, his own playful, and shrugs. Akechi rolls his eyes. “Spit it out, Amamiya.”

”Just thinking,” Ren says, toying with the straw in his half empty glass.

”That’s dangerous,” comes the dry response.

Now it’s Ren’s turn to roll his eyes. A bit of a conversation that has been repeated many times before, a familiar bit in a familiar routine in an unfamiliar world. “So I’ve heard. You should try it sometime, Detective.” 

The former assassin snorts. “Maybe I should.” He takes a sip of his drink, something with a fancy name that Ren didn’t catch. His eyes bore into Ren’s. “So. Are you going to tell me what you were thinking about or are you going to keep staring at me?”

”Aw, I thought you liked the attention, Mr. Detective Prince.” Peering over his glasses, through dark messy bangs, he flutters his eyelashes. Akechi rolls his eyes so hard Ren almost worries they’ll fall out his head.

”How many times do I have to tell you that was a bullshit act? Here I thought my rival was better than that.”

”Maybe.” Ren keeps stirring the straw, causing the ice cubes to clink against the glass, and smirks. Akechi scowls at his rivals teasing. The dark haired teen sighs. Fine, he’ll relent. A bit. Just for tonight. “I was just thinking about Maruki.” 

”What about him?” Akechi’s scowl deepens. Ren knows that he would love nothing more than to go up and just shoot the doctor, point blank, no regrets.

”His ‘wishes’,” He turns to watch the swirling liquid in his glass, watches as an ice cube shrinks and splinters. “Just. What mine would’ve been?” He sees a change in expression on Akechi’s face out of the corner of his eye. “Not that I really care too much. Just curious, you know?” He turns back to the brown haired teenager across the table. 

Akechi’s scowl is gone, his face just a neutral mask. A false hint of bemusement flickers across his features. Ren’s known him long enough to at least get a feel when he’s faking it now. 

It’s Akechi’s turn to look away, focusing on the singer, who has now moved on to another song. “No. Not particularly. I don’t give a fuck what he wants. It’s not like the good doctor cares what other people want, either.”

Ren shrugs. Different opinions, he guesses.

Though, as he turns to watch the woman with her microphone, he keeps watch over his rival out of the corner of his eye. And he can’t help but notice the smallest hint of… something break onto Akechi’s face for the briefest of moments. For the first time in a long time, he doesn’t know what it is, doesn’t even have an idea what it could be. He has an inkling that Akechi might be hiding something, but he’s always been hiding something, as long as Ren has known him, and Ren also knows well enough not to pry. Though, its not like Akechi would say anything even if Ren did.

But he can’t shake the feeling that whatever it is, whatever it is that Akechi isn’t saying, he is doing his best to keep Ren specifically in the dark.

-

_Pi pi pi._

”Ryuji, it’s over here!”

_Pi pi pi._

”I’m comin’, I’m comin’! Slow down!”

_Pi pi pi._

”Wow, you’re awful at this, huh?”

”Shut up, Futaba.” Ryuji didn’t tear his gaze away from the screen as Futaba snickered, sitting on the couch between the two men, cat curled up in her lap. Ren had set down his own controller as Ryuji struggled to make the jumps to get over to the platform that Ren’s character was standing on, amusement dancing across his features. 

”Do you want Futaba to do it for you?” Ren suppressed a chuckle as Ryuji’s character barely grazed the edge of the platform and fell right back down. 

”No, I don’t want Futaba to-“ Ryuji spat through gritted teeth. “What I _want_ is to be able to get this goddamn stupid-“ _Pi pi pi_. Ryuji started to white knuckle the controller, and Ren suddenly felt concerned that his friend might end up breaking the controller. “Ren, can you _please_ pick up your goddamn phone or do something.”

”Eheheheh, c’mon, just let me do it or you guys are going to be here all night,” Futaba reached for the controller and Ryuji leaned out of her reach.

”I can- Hey!” Futaba was reaching over his lap now and Ryuji held the remote, still gripped tightly with both hands, high out of her reach. Morgana leapt out of her lap, and glared at the trio on the couch before sauntering to Ren’s room, presumably to continue the sleeping that had been interrupted. 

Ren suppressed laugh as Futaba flailed in an attempt to steal the controller from Ryuji, when his phone went off again.

 _Pi pi pi._ The phone pinged. Whoever was trying to get in contact with Ren sure was very adamant to do so, judging by the amount of messages he was getting. He reached over to where the phone was plugged in on the arm of the couch. After picking it up and unplugging it, just as he was about to check the messages, the phone pinged again, and another alert came through.

Ann: Ren Ren Ren Ren Ren  
Ann: You’re going on another date and you didn’t even tell me?  
Ann: How am I supposed to be your best wingwoman if you don’t even tell me anything???  
Ann: I had to hear things from GORO  
Ann: Ren I know you’re not busy pick up your phone  
Ann: Reeeeeennnnn  


Goro? Since when were they on a first name basis? _Ren_ wasn’t even on a first name basis with him, though it wasn’t for lack of trying.

Ren: Since when do you call him Goro  
Ann: Like yesterday I think? I asked and he was okay with it  
Ann: ANYWAY why didn’t you tell me you had a date with him on Saturday???  
Ren: Its not a date. Futaba, Ryuji, and Yusuke are going to be there  
Ren: So not a date.  
Ren: And I never agreed to you being my wingwoman  
Ann: >:(  
Ren: <3  
Ann: You’ll thank me though!  
Ren: Will I?  
Ann: <3  
Ren: Wait. Does Akechi think it’s a date??  
Ren: Ann did he tell you it was a date  
Ann: Oops! My manager’s calling! Sorry!  
Ren: ANN  


Ren waited for a response, but nothing came. Not even an indicator that she was typing. Nothing. As he liked to think the best of people, and due to that, would like to think that Ann’s manager really had called her, despite how late it was, and that she wasn’t avoiding the question or texting his cru- his rival about him. That had to be it. 

He sighed, and plugged his phone back in. Just as he was about to set it back in its spot on the arm of the couch Futaba’s elbow slammed into Ren’s back, knocking the air of his lungs and the phone out of his hand.

”Oh shit,” Ryuji dropped the controller that he had been participating in a tug-o-war match with Futaba over, “Are you okay?” Futaba, ever the concerned sister (and having seen Ren take far worse) took her chance and held her prize in a death grip with both hands before turning to Ren.

”You’re good?” She asked, voice filled with genuine concern.

Ren took a shuddering, wheezing breath. How were her elbows so sharp? But other than the bruise that Ren was certain was blooming on his back and needing to catch his breath, he’d be okay. “I’m fine,” His voice came out a bit breathless, still recovering the air that had been lost. Took another breath, then grabbed his controller, and tossed it to Ryuji. Clearly not expecting the throw, Ryuji almost fumbled it. Ren leaned over and grabbed his phone off the ground then stood up. 

”Well,” He announced, “I’m going to take a bath. Ryuji, take over for me?” Hopefully the warm water would help reduce soreness. 

”Uh… yeah! Sure!” Ryuji sputtered. “You’re sure you’re good though?” 

Ren gave him a sly smile. “C’mon man, I’d tell you if I wasn’t. I’m just getting a bit tired, that’s all.” As he turned towards the bathroom, he called back, “Consider me using up all the hot water repayment.” And he shut the door, blocking out any protests.

-

The hot water of the bath did indeed help the sore spot. Ren leaned back in the tub, basking in the warm, steaming water, arms splayed on the sides of the barely warm porcelain. Water dripped from his damp bangs into his eyes.

Ren couldn’t understand why Ann being able to call Akechi by his given name made him feel… weird. He couldn’t place his finger on the feeling. It couldn’t be jealously, he furiously denied that. Ren only had himself to blame for that. The Old Akechi, the one that truly knew Ren had adamantly refused any offer and effort to be on a first name basis with his rival, and Ren had for some reason assumed that ‘Katsura’ would be the same. Even after he had accepted Ren’s offer to call him by his own given name. 

Wait. _Was_ Ren jealous?

No. That couldn’t be it. He pulled his arms in and sunk deeper into the tub, keeping only his head above his nose above the water. Amamiya Ren? Jealous? Never. It was a silly thing to get jealous over something so trivial as that, and even doubly so to be jealous when Ann was involved, considering she wouldn’t do anything with Akechi past being friends.

So why was he?

Besides, there was an easy way to remedy it, right? Just ask him. Ren could just ask Akechi if he could call him Goro, if he’d be okay with it. Simple. ‘Hey, is it okay if I call you Goro?’ Ren practiced in his head. No. He shook the thoughts out, sending water droplets sprinkling all over the sides of the tub and towels. Just bring it up naturally. No big deal. Stop making a big deal out of it, Ren, he scolded himself. You’re not a kid anymore. 

He knew he kept thinking it, but his brain kept cycling back to that fact that this was a thing that he was able to do now. He now had the ability, the chance, to ask Akechi these types of things. To ask him questions, to see him smirk, hear him laugh, verbally spar with him.

And yet, it wasn’t the same. Not while Ren had the upper hand in everything regarding Akechi’s past, not while Akechi was still thought of himself as Katsura instead. Not while Ren was being pulled in so many opposite directions and trying to keep the balance and keep everything up in the air. Wanted to, _had_ to keep everyone happy and sated and stay on everyone’s good side no matter what. 

And Ren was so, so tired.

It had only been a week and a half and he was exhausted. 

How had he handled this much back in that year in Tokyo? Where he had practically run himself ragged keeping up relationships with so many people in so many parts of the city while simultaneously keeping up his grades and moonlighting as the leader of a squad of supernatural thieves, on top of working various odd jobs? All the while enjoying every second of it? Where had all that energy gone? 

Ren blew out of his mouth, sending a flurry of bubbles up to the surface of the bathwater. Asking for help had never been something he’d been particularly adept at. Growing up, he’d been pretty self reliant. And in Tokyo, he was the strong one, Joker, the fearless and dependable leader of the Phantom Thieves. _He_ was the one people turned to for help, for any problem big or small, and he’d handle it with a cool smile and a wave of the hand that no, don’t worry about it, he was glad to do it. And he was. He loved to help people. 

But when it came to asking people for help? For the things other than the little things, like notes for a class he slept through or 150 yen to buy a soda? No, those things were off the table. It wasn’t even out of a sense of pride. Ren didn’t know why. It was just something that was ingrained in him, to deal with personal stuff on his own. He’d done it practically his whole life, from when he’d moved to Tokyo to when he moved in with Ryuji for university. He’d worked through his grief on his own. Or well, he’d thought he had. He probably needed to find a therapist or professional at some point. 

Ren almost had to laugh at the irony. Having to go to a therapist to talk about the grief and issues that another therapist had given him. Not like he could do that, anyway. How was he supposed to explain everything about the metaverse, everything about Akechi and his (previously assumed) death? Sure, he could lie, but any slip of the tongue would make them think he was a liar. And Ren was pretty sure you weren’t supposed to lie in therapy regardless. Kinda defeats the purpose and all.

He pulled his head out of the water and sat up, leaned back and started to twist his bangs. Maybe he should take Ann up on her offer to hear him out. Maybe that’d be good for both of them. Ann’s always been good with people and feelings in a way that Ren sometimes wished he could even get close to. Well, that was something to worry about another time. A problem for tomorrow’s Ren, not the current one.

As he leaned forward to pull the drain stopper of the tub, Ren assured himself again that he certainly wasn’t jealous that Ann got to call him Goro and not Ren, as if repeating it over and over again in his head would make it true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so again, sorry for the lack of chapter last week, stuff was busy and for most of the week, not great. Like very much not great and having to deal with a lot of things. But much better this week! Anyway, sorry but next week might have to be a late/early/skip week as well, because due to the upcoming holidays and current plague, I have to drive 10+ hours to go pick up a relative from their college. So there's that. Hope you enjoy! Sorry if stuff's been a bit slow lately plot wise. Might need to spend more time on the outline and flesh stuff out. ANYWAY. Thanks so much for the kudos and comments and views!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back! And so should weekly updates. Thanks for understanding and keeping reading and all that, it's really appreciated

“Check.”

Akechi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He kept his eyes trained on the board in front of him, and not the black-haired man slyly smiling across from him, leaning on crossed arms on the table. Eyes darted from piece to piece to piece before seeming to settle on something. He picked up his white king and slid it one space to the left, barely out of reach of the black knight.

”Stop smiling,” Akechi pulled his arm back, “You haven’t won yet.”

That only made Ren’s smile grow wider as he moved one of his pawns forward. “Hey, you’re not even looking at me. What makes you think I’m smiling?”

”Because you always smile when you’re being insufferable.” Akechi still didn’t look up, studying the board. His white rook moved to take the threatening knight. Almost as soon as he pulled his hand back, Ren moved one of his bishops into place. 

“Check,” Ren repeated, still wearing a smug grin.

Akechi made a sound somewhere halfway between a moan and a frustrated sigh. He moved the king down a space. Ren moved the pawn that his partner had been ignoring forward once again. Just as Ren was starting to open his mouth to speak, Akechi knocked down his own king in surrender. Ren kept grinning. 

”Again,” Akechi demanded more than he asked as he finally looked up to meet Ren’s eyes for only a moment before he turned back and began setting up his side of the board again. Ren flipped over his phone that was lying face down on the tabletop to check the time. Eh, he had time for another game or two. He flipped it back over and began returning the chess pieces to their proper starting positions. After all the pieces on both sides of the board had been set, Akechi spun the board around, so that now he was black, and Ren was white. 

Ren made the first move. “Still a sore loser, I see,” He said good naturedly, as he slid one of his pawns forward.

”I’m not a sore loser,” Akechi responded defensively, moving one of his own pawns forward. 

”Sure, you aren’t,” Ren moved another pawn, “And you don’t turn everything into a competition either, huh?”

”I do no- What are you even-“ Akechi sputtered, “What does that have to do with anything?” Ren didn’t respond other than a sarcastic hum of affirmation. “I do not.” 

Ren didn’t respond for a bit, nor did Akechi try to continue the conversation. Instead, the two only sat at the outdoors table on the campus grounds, the sounds of the pieces clattering softly on the board as they were moved and removed filling the silence between them. 

While Ren did try to keep his eyes on the board, keeping track of pieces and places and positions, he kept having to fight the urge to stare at the man across from him. The way the sun glistened through his hair made the color look as though it was turning from brown to the color of honey. Yusuke would probably have a field day, Ren mused. With the lighting, and his unintentional posing as he looked over the board and made his move, Akechi was evoking the image of some painting by one of those Old Masters that Yusuke was prone to going on about. 

”You’re still up for tomorrow, yeah?” Ren broke the silence.

”Of course,” Akechi finished placing his piece and finally tore his eyes away from the board, and leaned on his hand. “I don’t recall having ever played such a game; I do hope I do not disappoint.” Ren’s turn, knight took pawn. 

”It’ll be fine,” Ren shrugged it off. Not like here was the place to tell him that if the muscle memory still persisted, then Akechi would probably do more than fine at the game. If he was lucky, maybe that would even spark a bit of a memory. Make things less awkward for him to have to explain.

”Hm?” Those copper eyes felt like they were piercing into Ren, almost as if Ren was being studied underneath a microscope. “And here I thought you weren’t fond of losing?” 

”Not as much as you are,” Ren said.

”So you’ll have faith I’ll do well, then?”

”Who knows?” Ren shrugged, “You’re full of surprises.” Ren leaned back and gave Akechi a cocky smile after moving his queen into position. “Check.”

Akechi, seemingly reluctantly, tore his eyes away from Ren’s own after a few seconds that felt like much longer, and went back to studying the board. Eyes darted from piece to piece, weighing different options. Ren could almost see the cogs turning in the other man’s head. After he seemingly seemed to weigh all his options, with a frustrated sigh, Akechi knocked over his own king in surrender.

”You are… frustrating to play against,” Akechi crossed his arms and leaned back. 

”I do kinda have the advantage,” Ren shrugged again. “You play the same.” He paused before adding, “As you did back then.” It had seemed a bit unfair to Ren. He and Akechi had played together so often and for so many months that they’d both become incredibly familiar with each other’s playstyles and strategies. So Ren played the same as he had the last time he’d played with his rival; even amnesiac, Akechi would be pissed if he’d found out Ren had gone easy on him. But ‘Katsura’ didn’t remember the way that Ren played, and as a result, the dark haired man had won most of their matches so far. 

”Ah, an unfair advantage indeed,” Akechi replied, “You didn’t even consider going easy on me?”

”No.” Short, to the point, and honest. Ren hadn’t even considered it. 

Akechi smiled. “Good.” He checked his phone, “Ah, my apologies, I must cut this short; I’ve got to starting making my way to my next class.” And with that, he started to pack up the chessboard, starting by placing the pieces in a leather bag that he pulled from the messenger bag at his side. Trying to help out, Ren gently wiped the remaining pieces off of the board and started to fold it up. 

”I can go with you,” He offered, looking up at his rival through thick bangs. “If you want, of course.” 

Akechi placed his hand on his chin and pretended to heavily consider it. Ren fluttered his eyelashes. The brown haired man broke character with a snort and finished packing away the bag with the pieces, taking the now folded board that Ren was handing to him. 

”I’ll allow it,” Akechi faux-relented, a coy smile dancing at the edge of his mouth. Ren overdramatically sighed in fake relief, earning him an equally overdramatic eyeroll from the lighter haired man.

He turned towards Morgana, curled up on Ren’s bag and softly breathing as he took a nap in the warm rays of the run. While squashing down the slightest feeling of guilt about waking the cat up, Ren gently started to scratch the cat’s chin. Morgana yawned and stretched, arcing his back. Ren nodded towards the bag that he was holding open and Morgana, still groggy from his nap but knowing what Ren was indicating, sauntered in and almost immediately resumed his nap. 

”Are you coming?” 

Ren hadn’t noticed that his amnesiac rival had stood up and was now a short distance away, impatiently looking over his shoulder at Ren. Of course, he was still impatient. With that, he quickly, but still carefully, slung the bag over his shoulder and made his way to Akechi’s side.

”So,” Ren began, “You’re up for another game sometime?” He leaned forward a bit, brushed his bangs down, “Or are you still going to be a sore loser?”

”Fuck you,” Akechi said, keeping his eyes on the path in front of him. “I’m not.”

”You are.”

”I’m not doing this with you.” Akechi side eyed Ren. 

”Ah, so I win, then.” 

”You really are insufferable.” Akechi said, but there was no malice in his voice, his lips slightly upturned.

”So I’ve been told,” Ren grinned. 

Despite being a student at the university for nearly two years at this point, there were still many buildings that Ren had yet to enter. He knew his way around campus, of course, knew the names of most of the buildings and what kinds of classes were taught there, but there were a few that there were no need for him to ever bother with. The one that Akechi had brought him to was one of those, one that Ren had only ever seen on the map. He couldn’t see a name or a number on the side of the building. He made a mental note to check the map later to figure out what it was. Akechi had stopped off to the side, out of the ways of the doors and the steady stream of other students passing in and out through the door. 

”I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” Akechi said as he straightened the bottom of his shirt. 

”It’s a promise.” And with that, Ren waved and Akechi disappeared among the crowd. 

-

No notifications.

Ren slipped his phone back into his pocket, leaning the cool glass of the window display of one of the malls many, many stores. It was a nice mall, he had to admit. A bit too big, and, in Ren’s opinion, a bit too confusing, with winding pathways and an arguably nonsensical layout. If anything, it reminded him of Mementos, but far less dark, full of more people, and far less ominous, lacking the bones and pulsating walls. Still nice, though. As they’d walked in, he had even spied an escalator leading to a movie theater, but Ryuji had pulled the group past it in a rush to get to the laser tag place. He made mental note to visit it later. Maybe even see a movie with a certain someone. Though, he’d have to figure out if said person still liked the same movies. If not, there was a new anime movie coming out soon that he knew was one of Futaba’s favorites. 

”They’re late.” Futaba muttered from her place on the floor between Ryuji and Ren. Her fingers danced methodically on the screen of her phone, the screen’s light filling her glasses in a way that Ren wasn’t able to see her eyes. 

”Yusuke’s always late,” Ryuji pointed out. His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket. He turned to Ren. “I thought the asshole was always early.” 

Ren shrugged. “Maybe he’s lost.” Ryuji snorted. 

”Akechi, lost? Sure. Yusuke bein’ lost I can believe. Hell, I can believe you bein’ lost. But him? Nah. Maybe he just ditched.” 

”Doesn’t sound like him,” Futaba said. 

Ryuji muttered his dissent under his breath. While Ren couldn’t catch everything that he was saying, he could have sworn that he caught a bit of cursing and a declaration that at least Futaba should have his back. A moment of silence between them.

”Should we text them?” Ren asked. He wasn’t sure exactly how long they were waiting, but it sure felt like a long time. Though, to be fair, Ren was exactly the best when it came to waiting. He’d never been good at it. Even five minutes could feel like an eternity if Ren was bored, or if he was waiting for something he was looking forward to. 

Ryuji shrugged. “I’m not textin’ Akechi.” He grunted. 

”Didn’t expect you to,” Ren said, “You get Yusuke?” 

”Yeah,” Ryuji straightened up and pulled his phone from his pocket. Ren did the same.

Ren: Hey

Ren: You still coming?

Akechi: Oh

Akechi: Yes. Sorry. 

Akechi: I’m on my way. I just got turned around. I should be there soon. My apologies for making you wait.

Ren: Do I need to come and get you…?

Akechi: Absolutely not.

Ren: We’re in front of the store across from the place btw 

No response. Guess he was on his way. Hopefully. Well, he’d find out one way or another.

”Yusuke’s lost,” Ryuji said as he slipped the phone back into his pocket. “I’m gonna go get him.” He turned to Ren, eyes serious. “Don’t go in without me.”

Ren held his hands up. “’Course not. Wouldn’t dream of it.” Ryuji nodded before he started walking away to go retrieve their lost artist friend. “Wait!” Ren called. Ryuji turned around. “Have fun!” Ryuji rolled his eyes then continued ahead.

After Ryuji was out of earshot, Ren turned to Futaba. 

”Thanks,” He said, “For agreeing. You didn’t have to. I know it’s probably hard and-“ 

”None of the emotional stuff right now,” Futaba interrupted. “I just want a full team to play with. Always seemed fun on tv. And I never got to use a gun back then, I wanna give it a try.” She finally looked up from her phone, eyes meeting Ren’s. “We can talk about it later. Not here.”

Even though she was the one that offered it up, Ren knew that it wasn’t something that either one of them wanted to talk about. It was something that was incredibly necessary, something that needed to be covered at some point, but something that both of them dreaded. Too many feelings to dig up, to address. It was far easier to just ignore it and to not talk about it. Things in the future might be scarier, but the impermanence of them were a comfort. Nothing was set in stone, everything was a possibility. 

But that couldn’t last forever. Time never stopped and the future always came.

”I’m sorry for being so late,” Akechi’s pleasant voice knocked the pair out of their thoughts and their shared silence. Futaba turned back to her phone, fingers returning to their dance over the screen.

”You’re fine. Ryuji’s getting Yusuke right now, so really, you’re fine.” Ren said.

Akechi looked quizzically at something behind Ren. “No cat today?”

”Oh.” Ren wasn’t wearing his usual bag. “They don’t allow bags in the arena, and I didn’t want to just leave him stuffed in a locker, so well,” He shrugged. “Left him at home.” Reached up to twist a part of his bangs. “He’ll probably give me an earful when I get back.”

”I see,” Akechi said. He glanced downwards, and seemed to notice the orange haired girl on the floor for the first time. “Ah! Sakura, yes? Sorry I didn’t greet you; I didn’t notice you there.”

No response from Futaba. Not even a head nod or a grunt of acknowledgement. Nothing. Akechi kept that placid smile plastered on his face, though Ren could have sworn he saw it waver ever so slightly at the edges. But it remained nonetheless. Seeming to understand that Futaba wasn’t going to respond to him, Akechi looked back up and glanced around.

”I thought there were going to be more people?” He asked.

Just as Ren was about to open his mouth to answer the question, Ryuji appeared as if from thin air and slapped his arm around Ren’s shoulder. His other hand held the sleeve of a very confused Yusuke. 

”Sorry it took me so long, man. Somehow Yusuke ended up on the whole other side of the mall. Outside. What the hell, right?” He clapped Ren’s shoulder and removed himself.

”It was not my fault,” Yusuke defended himself, “And in my defense, there was an exquisite mural-“

”Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Ryuji waved it away. When his eyes met Akechi’s, his entire demeanor stiffened. “And Ak- Katsura’s here. Good.” His voice lacked the warmth that it did when he was talking to his two friends when referring to Akechi, but immediately returned once he resumed speaking to the group as a whole. “C’mon, I’ve waited long enough, lets go. Futaba, get up, we’re going in.” With that, Futaba bounced up, dusting off her clothes, and stood behind Yusuke and Ryuji, keeping her distance from the amnesiac man next to Ren. 

Akechi’s slightly eerie smile stayed the same despite Ryuji’s remark. He ignored Ryuji, instead addressing Yusuke, who appeared to be intently studying him. Holding out his hand, “I don’t believe we’ve met. I am Katsura Shouichi. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Ever polite. 

Yusuke ignored the hand. “You really do not remember,” He said, eyes wide and voice surprised. 

Akechi laughed awkwardly. “I take it we’ve met before then?” Yusuke nodded. “Apologies then, but its true; I really don’t.” Yusuke kept staring at him. Under his intense gaze, Akechi shifted uncomfortably. “I…um, I didn’t catch your name?”

”Kitagawa Yusuke.” Straight and to the point. The artist held up his hands to form a frame around the former detective’s face, turning it and his face as if trying to catch the best angle, or to try to figure out…something. The amnesiac man simply stood still, his eyes flicking to Ren as if saying ‘help me’ or maybe ‘what am I supposed to do.’

Ren didn’t answer, electing to ignore Akechi’s silent pleas for assistance. 

”Come on!” Ryuji groaned. Apparently, while Yusuke, Akechi, and Ren had been caught up in the re-introductions, Ryuji and Futaba had made their way to the opening of the place across from them. 

”The next time slot is in fifteen minutes,” Futaba pointed out, “If we hurry up, we might be able to make it.” 

”What she said! Stop flirtin’ and hurry up!” Ryuji turned around and started towards the reception desk inside. 

”I wasn’t even talking to him!” Ren said.

”I’m not flirting with Kitagawa,” Akechi said at the same time.

”What?” Yusuke asked in unison with the other two. 

Futaba snickered as she clasped her hands behind her back, then bounced after Ryuji. Taking one final look at Akechi, Yusuke followed suit. Now it was just Akechi and Ren, side by side. 

”He’s an odd one,” The amnesiac man said to Ren, who shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his pants. 

”Sure is, but he’s not a bad guy,” With that, Ren followed the same path as his friends. He didn’t hear Akechi follow suit behind him. Turning around, “You heard them. If we hurry up, we might be able to make it.” 

The other man met his eyes. Was that a touch of apprehensiveness there? A touch of nervousness? What for? That was something that Ren decided was unique to Katsura, as he never saw that with the Akechi that he knew. Would that go away when, no if, he got his memories back? 

Ren opened his mouth, about to ask his rival if he was okay, that there was still time to back out if he needed to, but Akechi straightened up, and joined Ren at his side. 

”I’m fine,” Akechi said, copper eyes meeting the steel of Ren’s, “Let’s start the game, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And next week should be laser tag! And group bonding! And maybe more!  
> Sorry if stuffs off about this chapter or stuff; it's one of those cases where i need to write the scene to get from point a to point b but it can be hard and stuff i'm not entirely happy with, but have to do to get to the stuff i more want to write!  
> As always, please tell me if there's any like, grammatical or formatting issues. And thanks again for reading!  
> Shout out to the Kuzuha Mall, which i got lost in literally every single time i visited it


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Not dead! Here's the new chapter!

Ren ducked behind one of the many obstacles spread throughout the floor and pressed his back against the hard surface. Two hands grasped the grip of the gun, one finger readily hovered over the trigger. His breath came out in heavy, labored spurts and he could hear the blood rushing, thumping, in his ears. Sweat plastered his shirt to his back under the heavy vest. 

A wry, almost crazed smile curled its way onto his face.

Amamiya Ren hadn’t felt this alive in _years_.

From somewhere nearby, he heard the loud buzz signaling that someone had been hit, followed quickly by the sound of a voice he didn’t recognize, one of the other team members, cursing. Then, the quick patter of light footsteps making their escape. Ah, must have been Futaba. A damn good shot. He’d have to thank her later. Not now, of course. Yelling that out would give away his position, and he wasn’t sure how many of the others were nearby. 

He took a few more seconds to catch his breath. God, this brought him back. Back to strange palaces in other worlds, where he’d have to hide behind statues or chairs or slot machines from monsters instead of just other people with fake guns. Even though the stakes were far different in a laser tag arena as compared to in the metaverse, the feeling was the same. Losing wasn’t an option. 

Joker had been lurking underneath his skin for a long time, even before the metaverse. That part of him that embodied rebellion, that part of him that resented the propriety that his parents forced on him. Keep still, his parents would always say. Keep out of trouble. Keep your mouth shut in front of the guests. Only speak when spoken to. Just be a good child and don’t make a scene. Go to school, go to club, go home, study, and eventually go to a good school and get a good salary job, get married, and so on and so on. Ren had been sick of it. But what could he do?

Then Shido happened. 

The car ride home from the police station had been quiet, no words, only looks of disappointment and overheard mutterings of how they were supposed to save face with _the incident_. That’s what they called it. Always the incident. Ren remembered how much effort it had taken to hold his tongue, hold back the white hot rage inside that had burned when his parents waved him away whenever he tried to justify what he had done. He should’ve just stayed out of other people’s business, they told him. How was he supposed to get into a good school now?

And without another word, Ren had been shipped off to Tokyo.

But it was there that he could finally let Joker out, finally let the other him that had been clawing at him to be free, have his wish. And Ren was so happy. For the first time in forever, in his life, he could be free. No more rules, no more having to abide by what his parents wanted, no more having to abide by society’s expectations. In the realms of other people’s hearts, Ren was no more; it was only Joker.

Then after the collapse of the metaverse, as the world shattered around him, Joker had disappeared and left Ren to pick up the pieces. Joker hadn’t wanted to go back to being confined, but what else was Ren supposed to do? He could take some of what Joker embodied, let parts of him out from time to time, but the real world had no place for Joker. It only had room for Ren, and with that knowledge, Ren had to wrangle him back in, deep down inside. 

And yet, here, now, Ren had found a place to let Joker run free.

And he was _living_. 

As quick as a shadow, Ren shot from his obstacle to another, and peeked over the top. He took a deep breath and honed his senses. All around him, the world quieted and felt sharper. Breath steady, heartbeat slowed. There. Just the slightest bit of movement, barely peeking out from a pillar not too far from him. Maybe someone’s shoulder? He couldn’t tell if it was one of his friends or a member of the opposite team, but slowly and stealthily made his way over to them. He did his best to keep his footfalls light as he moved, kept to the darker shadows in the already dark arena, became one with the shadows. 

Ren held his breath as he got closer to the figure behind the pillar, who still seemed to be unaware that they were being hunted. Would the guy even hear his breath? Unlikely. But it was more out of habit than anything, because Ren had learned long ago that it was far better to err on the side of caution rather than take an unneeded risk. His hands tightened on the hard plastic of the laser gun’s grip, his finger hovering over the trigger. Any second now. 

Now that he was closer, having moved around the pillar at a distance, he could see that it certainly wasn’t any of his friends. No, even though he couldn’t see the person’s face, they were far too tall to be even Yusuke, and far bulkier than anyone he knew. And they still didn’t notice him. Ren’s heartbeat pounded in his ears, a river fueled by adrenaline. In a single swift move, Ren leapt from the shadows and shot his opponent in the center of his vest, causing the lights on it to ripple to orange and emit a loud buzzing, signaling that his opponent was out for a good while. Ren heard the person complaining as he kept running, far away from the scene. 

Ren finally found solace against a long half wall where he’d collapsed in a slump after sprinting away from his last shot. He didn’t know how much time was left in the round, and he had no idea where anyone else was. They’d all split up at the beginning of the round, and he had no way of figuring out where anyone was impossible unless he wanted to draw attention to his position. Fuck. Next round they really, really should try to have _some_ sort of plan. 

”Hello.”

Ren jumped at the hiss of the whisper right beside him. Shit. He hadn’t heard anyone arriving. Caught off guard, he fumbled with the gun and pointed it in the direction of the voice. Seeing the person’s face, Ren let out a sign of relief. 

”Akechi.”

The man in question nodded. He was close enough that even in the dim lights of the arena, Ren could see his face. Sweat plastered the brown bangs to Akechi’s forehead, his cheeks were flushed. Despite how tired his rival looked, Ren could tell that he was enjoying it just as much as he was. It was the look in his eyes. That wild look, slightly unhinged when he was trying his best to hide it, to keep it under wraps. And there was also a feral touch to the small grin he was wearing.

Akechi Goro was having the time of his life.

”How are you holding up?” Ren whispered. “Having fun?”

”I am quite enjoying it,” Akechi flashed a wicked grin, “I really must thank you for inviting me.” He readjusted his grip on the gun that he held using only his dominant hand. “Have you seen the others?”

Ren shook his head. “I think I heard Futaba earlier? You seen Ryuji or Yusuke?” 

It was Akechi’s turn to shake his head. “I haven’t.” He froze. Eyes darted from left to right, and he scrambled to his feet. “Someone’s near,” He hissed. Ren took the cue, standing up, joining Akechi’s side. Ren turned around, pressing his back to Akechi’s. Both of them held their guns in one hand, pointed at nothing. 

”Movement on my six,” Ren whispered, almost inaudibly. “You?”

”No one,” Came the response. “Go for it, I’ll back you up.”

Ren shot forward, toward the person who was doing their best to aim at Ren, but as he zigzagged, deftly dodging invisible shots. Akechi quickly followed, sprinting around Ren and vanished in the shadows. Twenty feet turned to ten feet turned to five feet and in a flash, Ren was in perfect position. Just as Ren was about to pull the trigger, his opponent’s vest flashed orange and their face fell. Ren peeked around and saw Akechi, gun raised and finger still pulling the trigger back. The member of other team dejectedly walked away. Now that he was alone with him, Ren turned to Akechi.

”Backing me up doesn’t mean taking my points, you know,” He pointed out teasingly. Akechi shrugged.

”I saw the shot and I took it. I didn’t think that would be a problem,” Akechi said. “I thought you liked winning?”

”Not as much as you do.”

”I’m not having this argument with you again.”

Ren smiled. “Because I won last time?”

”You did not,” Akechi scoffed. 

Ren was about to retort that, yes, he did in fact win the argument and his friend was just being a horribly sore loser, but was stopped by the lights turning on and a jingle rang out that signaled that the round had come to an end and to gather in the lobby. 

Akechi nodded towards the direction of the exit. “Shall we?”

The dark haired man bowed in an overly dramatic chivalrous way that earned him an eye roll. Ren was getting a lot of those lately. He couldn’t be mad, it reminded him of the old days, of the way things used to be. It helped fuel the ember of hope deep inside him that Akechi could remember again. “Lead the way,” Ren said, looking up at him through thick dark bangs. Akechi snorted and began walking, not even waiting for Ren to catch up, almost as if he knew that Ren would do so and didn’t even need to check. Ren decided that Akechi’s head was big enough already without Ren telling him that he was right. 

\----

”Dude,” Ryuji slammed into Ren immediately upon his entry into the lobby, with Futaba standing, arms behind her back, accompanying him, “We’re two for two, man!” One hand shot out to the scoreboard, while the other slapped Ren’s back. “I guess it’s a good thing you brought A-“ He stopped, caught himself and Futaba shot him a look, “Katsura, yeah? Dude’s on a roll.” Ryuji leaned in closer, almost whispering into Ren’s ear. “Not a surprise though.” He leaned back, his signature lopsided smile returning to his face. “Look!” 

Sure enough, just as Ryuji said, their team had a little glowing ‘2’ next to it, while the other team had a ‘0’. And below that was the leaderboards. In first place, next to a large number of points, was the name ‘Crow,’ and right below it, barely missing first place, was ‘Joker.’ 

It had been Ryuji that insisted on using their old codenames. Futaba had insisted that maybe it wasn’t the brightest idea, considering who they were with, but Ryuji had gone ahead and started inputting them before she could even finish her protests. She’d just muttered something about ‘stupid’ and some other things but went along with it nonetheless. 

”I still don’t understand why I’m ‘Crow,’” Akechi said as he passed by the trio to lean against the wall on the other side of the lobby, over to a complementary water cooler. 

”What’s his problem?” Ryuji asked, still hanging off of Ren. 

Futaba moved over to Ren, “Not our problem.” She played with the toy gun in her hands idly, fidgety. 

”True,” Ryuji said, “Do appreciate him helpin’ us win, though.”

”I must thank you for inviting me,” Yusuke said, having been probably the last person to enter from the arena. Ren wondered where he had been, why it had taken him so long, but shoved that thought away. It was Yusuke, after all. “It’s quite exhilarating.” He placed a hand gently on his chest and closed his eyes, a soft smile playing on his lips, “I feel inspired anew.”

”Glad you’re enjoyin’ it,” Ryuji said, “Wait. Did you actually get any shots in?” He squinted at the leader board, and sure enough, there at the bottom was ‘Fox’ with…. “Dude, really?” Ryuji deadpanned. Ren blinked. _Zero_ points? Really? It wasn’t even that Yusuke was a bad shot; back in the metaverse he’d had decent accuracy and had saved all of their asses a few times. The only way that he could have gotten that few points was-

”Have you even been trying, Inari?” Futaba teased.

”I-“ Yusuke started to defend himself before Ryuji cut him off. 

”Fuck, now I guess we do really owe Akechi for helpin’ us win, since _somebody_ isn’t doin’ shit.”

”I am doing something,” Yusuke started to defend himself, but was once again cut off, this time by Futaba. 

”Not helping us win!” Futaba exclaimed. 

”Is it not important to have fun?”

”Winning is also important,” Ryuji said. 

Ren sighed. He could tell where this was going. His eyes slid over to where he had seen Akechi walking, and as expected, there he was, standing awkwardly, leaning against the wall, and sipping from a water cup. 

”I’m going to go check on him, okay?” Ren struggled to get out from under Ryuji without knocking him over. 

”C’mon man,” Ryuji complained, but didn’t do anything as Ren made his way over to Akechi, standing solitarily against the wall. 

Ren didn’t say anything as he joined Akechi’s side. Akechi nodded in acknowledgement at Ren’s arrival, not saying anything due to mouth being full of water as he gulped down the water from the cheap paper cup. Ren didn’t mind though; sometimes even just existing with silence was enough, to have their presence next to you. Ren adjusted the straps on his vest, tightening up the straps that had become a bit loose in all of the controlled chaos of the round. 

It was a few minutes before Akechi was the first one to break their silence.

”You played well,” was all he said. Ren hummed in affirmation, focused on the large rough straps on his side.

”You too. Having a good time?” Ren asked. 

”I…am,” Akechi said tentatively. “It’s quite odd, I think. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it so much, but, well, I guess there’s always ways one can be surprised, wouldn’t you agree?” He looked down at the gun in his hand, flipped it over as if he was studying it. “You said that you thought I’d be good at this game, didn’t you? How did you know?”

Ren swallowed. “Akechi, this really isn’t the time-“

Akechi whipped his head up to meet Ren’s eyes. “There’s something you’re not telling me, Amamiya. It’s never the _fucking_ time, is it?” He spat the words, his voice low, no longer a whisper, but instead something different, something laced with an undertone of danger. “You can’t keep pushing it to _later_. After this, I need some damn answers on at least a few questions.” He waved the toy gun in front of Ren’s face, annoyed and frustrated. “Like why do I- why does holding this feel so familiar?” His eyes were pleading. “After this. A few answers.” It was a demand more than it was an ask. 

Ren sighed and solemnly nodded, mouth dry.

”I- I will.” He promised, feeling the sinking weight in his chest fall further and further and further down. 

”I’m holding you to that,” Familiar copper eyes bored into him and Ren was shot back to that cold November night, that declaration of hatred, a leather glove being thrown at his face. That night of promises that were meant to be kept.

A buzzer went off and one of the arena’s employees walked to the front of the room, under the leaderboard, and clapped her hands, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. 

”Everyone listen up, please!” She said in a saccharine customer service voice, “We’ll be beginning the next round shortly! Everyone please ready yourselves!” 

Ren, trying to steady his heart, steady his breathing, was grateful for the change of subject. He turned to Akechi and tried to plaster a playful (and hopefully flirtatious) smile back on his face. “Bet I’ll beat you next round.”

Akechi’s eyes softened, “You can certainly try.”

Ren scoffed. “ _You can certainly try_ ,” He mocked in a faux high voice, “Just admit you’re scared.” 

”I can’t admit something that isn’t true.”

”Aw, can’t even lie to make me feel better?” Ren batted his eyelashes. “How cruel, detective.”

”I’m not in the business of lying.” With a loud crumple, Akechi crushed his cup and tossed it into the trash can. He held out his hand in a motion for Ren to lead the way, to go to the front of the lobby in preparation for the next round. 

”That would be a first,” Ren muttered, walking by Akechi. He was stopped by a sudden vice grip on his arm. 

”What does that mean?” Akechi’s eyes searched Ren’s for something, but was a also daring him to lie, knowing that he could catch any untruth that came out of his mouth. 

Shit. That wasn’t supposed to come out. “Come on, round’s about to start.” He tried to tug out of Akechi’s grip, but it was to no avail. Making sure that none of his other friends were in earshot, but still in a lowered voice, “Akechi, c’mon, round’s about to start.” 

”Ren,” The person in question’s heart skipped a beat hearing his name coming from the former assassin’s mouth. It would take a long time before he got used to it, the unfamiliar familiarity of it all. No more words came out, instead just leaving the question unspoken, implied. _What did that mean? Did I lie a lot? Did I lie to you a lot?_

”It’s almost time,” Ren’s voice came out soft as he reached over and gently lifted Akechi’s hand from his arm, one finger at a time. He did his best to ignore the fact that as he pulled his hand away, Akechi’s fingers lingered on it for just a second too long. Without saying another word, the amnesiac man nodded and they walked, side by side, to rejoin the rest of the group near the front. 

Ryuji noticed them first, brushing aside Futaba and Yusuke to greet him. 

”What took you so long?” He asked. Ren’s eyes flicked over to Akechi, who was doing his best not to meet the eyes of the rest of the group, nonchalantly keeping his eyes on the leaderboard overhead. Smooth, Akechi. Not suspicious at all. 

”Bet they were flirting again,” Futaba muttered, having joined the group, but still keeping her distance from Akechi, and keeping Ryuji has a barrier between her and the former detective. 

”Oh,” Yusuke seemed to come to a realization. “Ren! I did not realize that-“

”So,” Ren quickly cut Yusuke off, “Are we actually going to have a strategy this time or are we just going to run off and hope for the best?”

”Solo mission!” Futaba said.

”I think I would like to go off on my own as well,” Yusuke nodded. “Though I do not mind accompanying you.” 

”I kinda don’t wanna third wheel,” Ryuji muttered. 

Ren sighed. “Katsura?” He turned to Akechi. 

Without turning to him when he answered, Akechi said, “You’ll only slow me down.” 

”Ooh, utter rejection,” Futaba snickered. Ren sent her a glare that he hoped conveyed ‘shut up’, but whether or not Futaba understood it, she stuck her tongue out in response. 

Ren opened his mouth to refute Akechi’s claim, to argue that if anything, it would be Akechi slowing Ren down, but was stopped by the buzzer’s harsh noise ringing out, and the doors in front of them swinging open. 

And with that, they all rushed into the darkness of the arena. 

Let the games begin.

\---

Ren was completely alone. Again. He’d already gotten a few points off one of the other team’s members a while ago, but he hadn’t seen anyone since, which he thought was kind of odd. There was no way to keep track of time while in a round, and Ren wasn’t that good at keeping track of time anyway, even in the best of conditions. He slid from one shadow to another, keeping eyes out for any movement. Dammit. At this point, Akechi was definitely going to win. 

Speaking of…. Shit. Where was he supposed to begin? Sure, he could lie, say that Akechi was just an airsoft player, but there’s no way he would buy that, right? No. Shit. Ren really did dig himself into a hole here. He just _had_ to do his best to reintegrate himself into Akechi’s life again. Why did he do that? Akechi seemed to be doing fine without him. He just had to have a cru-

No. Not the time. Deal with your complicated feelings regarding a certain person later, Ren told himself. This was not the place to be distracted. 

Wait.

Ren froze. That was movement in the corner of his eyes, no doubt about it. Did they see him? There was no way to tell. Best to play it safe and assume that they did. He moved right, keeping his body low, tightened his grip on his gun. As he moved closer and closer, the heartbeat drummed louder and louder in his ears. He’d show Akechi. He’d show him that he was a force to be reckoned with. What happened to them being rivals on equal footing, huh. He gets amnesia for a few years and all of a sudden Ren has to prove himself again? Come on. 

Ren turned the corner, his footsteps barely echoes on the floor. Only a few more paces and he’d be right in front of his prey. He held up the gun, ready to shoot, ready to earn a few more points, and -

He was met instead with the muzzle of a laser gun right in front of his face. His eyes slid up to see who it was that had gotten the drop on him and, if this was an anime or a manga or a book, his jaw would have dropped open. 

Smiling a wicked grin, Akechi Goro held the gun right between Ren’s eyelids. 

Ren froze, fear gripped his heart. He felt like he was dipped in cold water, but that cold water seeped into his very core. No. No. This wasn’t like last time. This wasn’t like the last time that someone, Akechi, had pointed a gun at him like this, right between the eyes. Ren felt his chest tighten up, felt his breaths become heavier and labored and quickened. 

Ren thought he was over this. That he had moved past this. Evidently not.

Akechi’s face fell when he noticed that it was Ren and lowered his gun. But when he saw that Ren was still frozen, he became concerned. 

”Ren?” Akechi said. No response. His hand brushed Ren’s. “Ren, are you alright?” Still no response. Ren felt Akechi’s warm hand clasp over his own. “Ren, what’s wrong?” Akechi’s voice was high with concern. 

He wanted to answer him, he really did. There was nothing in the world that Ren wanted to do that that moment than to brush this all off, to pretend that it was nothing. But he couldn’t do it.

The last thing he heard before everything went dark was Akechi urgently, panicking, calling his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. About last weeks break. Basically, I had planned to get it up, but well, one of the people I live with got really sick and considering the current uhh.... plague. There was a lot of stress and stuff that he may have caught it. Luckily, he didn't! But circumstances also meant that basically I was the only person that wasn't in quarantine so yeah. But! He's fine now. And no one else is sick. Didn't get exposed and/or catch the plague!
> 
> Anyway! Yeah, Ren really should have gotten more issues from the whole interrogation room scene. And I don't think it's fair to just try to brush it off and stuff. Anyway! Hoping to get another chapter up next weekend and then *maybe* get one up after Christmas. If I keep it up and looking at my outline, we're about halfway to 3/5s of the way through! But some stuff goes faster than others and sometimes stuff gets expanded or shortened ect. Might go longer. 
> 
> Anyway! Thanks for all the comments and kudos and reading! I really do appreciate all of them! And as always, please tell me about any issues!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm not dead! And neither is the fic. Sorry for the long delay

Ren’s consciousness came back slow. Tediously slow. 

The first thing that Ren registered was the throbbing in the back of his head. Wait. Why did it hurt? 

_Oh._ That was right. He mentally groaned, as everything came back to him. The competition, the laser tag arena. 

The gun. 

And Ren blacking out. 

_Shit._ That was going to be an absolute bitch to explain. Goddammit. He’d thought he’d gotten better with everything that had happened at the interrogation room. He’d thought he’d not necessarily completely moved on, but moved on enough to have a fairly functional, a semi-normal life. God knows he wouldn’t agreed to come to this kind of place if he didn’t think he could handle it. 

Yeah, the nightmares didn’t go away. Ren wasn’t stupid; they probably never would. But he’d been able to handle getting vaccines again, handle being around needles. That had been one of the things that had taken the longest. The first time he’d seen a needle pointed in his direction after that awful, awful night had been at Dr. Takemi’s clinic. He’d come in for a simple booster shot, it was supposed to be a routine thing. It _had_ been a routine thing. Before. But, well. Things had changed, hadn’t they? 

Takemi had been nice enough not to ask why or how. She’d never been one to ask too many questions, and Ren had never appreciated that trait of hers more than in that moment. She never said anything more after that, but Ren noticed that when he came in, there were no needles out in the open anymore, and the doctor never recommended any treatments that required injections.

When Ren went home, it had been more difficult to deal with. He couldn’t exactly tell his parents why their son had come back from Tokyo with needle related trauma. Not that they’d believe him anyway. To be fair, Ren wasn’t sure that _anybody_ who wasn’t involved in the incident would believe him. 

Years of working through it had made it manageable. But the other issue? The other incident in that room that night? Where someone that he knew was planning to betray him but hoped deep down wouldn’t anyway, had come into that room and shot him with the intent to kill, with no remorse or doubt in his eyes? That had been harder to process. 

And apparently, Ren thought sardonically, shoving it in a locked mental box and locking that box in the darkest corner of his mind behind a big heavy door wasn’t exactly processing it. 

Well. Guess he finally gets to talk it out, huh? No more hiding that he was still affected by it. Morgana was the only one that knew about it. Or well, used to be the only one that knew about it. But there’s no way that anyone would believe him if he said he was over it now, after fainting in the arena. 

Ren froze. He was finally sentient enough to at least begin to feel his surroundings, and whatever he was lying on didn’t feel like the cold vinyl floor of the laser tag arena. Slowly, carefully, as not to alert any possible people nearby, wherever he was, that he was no longer asleep, he opened his eyelids as little as he could while still seeing his surroundings. 

Sickeningly beige walls, well lit. Okay, so he’d been moved. Made sense. Probably wasn’t for the best for him just to be left, lying unconscious on the floor of a dark room with people running around inside. No one seemed to be around. As far as Ren could tell, he was the only one in the room. 

With that comfort, he fully opened his eyes and sat up slowly. The back of his head throbbed. Ren must have hit his head when he’d fallen over. He reached up and gingerly touched the still forming bump on the back of his head and winced. That was going to hurt more in the morning. Still rubbing that spot, he looked around the room. He’d been lying on a couch in what appears to be the employee lounge, judging by the lockers on the wall opposite him. From the other side of the door to the room came muffled voices, too quiet for Ren to pick up the speaker, let alone the words being spoken. 

As he swung his legs off the couch, getting himself fully upright. Oh, how desperately he wanted to just stay in this room. To avoid going out. To live in the comfort of the possibilities rather than the concrete fear of the unchangeable. Where all of the consequences of his actions, of his secrets, would come crashing down. But his friends were certainly worried, and Ren reasoned that the longer he waited in this room, the longer he lingered in his own thoughts out of their sight, the more worried they would be. 

And with that, he sighed deeply to no one but himself, and hoisted himself off of the couch. Each footstep felt as though he was wading through thick mud. As his hand gripped the cold metal of the doorknob, he could hear the voices much more clearly. 

”-n’t start on that shit.” Ryuji was saying, voice low and growling. 

”As I’ve said for the -let’s see – fifth time already, I _didn’t_ do anything to him. I did not touch him.” Akechi’s voice was even, but strained. “I don’t understand why you won’t believe me. I understand that we weren’t on the best of terms, before, I’ve been told, but I feel this is a bit excessive, Sakamoto.”

”If Katsura had touched him,” Yusuke’s voice wafted in, “we would have noticed a mark on Ren.” A thump. Ryuji must have hit something. 

”We don’t fucking know that!” Ryuji’s voice raised in volume, concern mixed with anger mixed with fear. “The others didn’t have a mark on them!”

”But… that place is gone,” Futaba’s voice was so quiet that Ren had to strain to hear it. 

There was a long pause. 

”What other people?” Akechi asked. Another long pause. “What other people?” He repeated, quicker and desperate. 

Ren took that as his cue to turn to the doorknob and open the door, before Ryuji or Yusuke or (in the infinitesimal chance) Futaba said something. Three pairs of eyes immediately shot to him. 

Ryuji and Yusuke stood next to each other on one side of the narrow hallway outside the door Ren stood in, Akechi on the other side, leaning against the wall, arms crossed across his chest. Futaba was crouched on the floor next to Ryuji, arms wrapped around her knees. 

All of their faces lit up when they saw Ren. Ren simply waved awkwardly with one hand, rubbing the back of his neck with the other. 

”Hey.” Was all that he said.

”’Hey’ yourself, dude,” Ryuji walked over and jokingly slugged Ren before encasing him in a big bear hug. “You had us worried!” He pushed Ren away to study every detail of his facial expression. “You sure you’re good?”

Ren slipped on a mask with an easy smile, “Of course I am.” He turned to Futaba, who was surely the most worried considering her history, “I promise.” He winked. “Can’t easily get rid of a key item, right?” 

Futaba gave him a weak, but relieved, smile. “Nope!” She said, running over to embrace him. “I was worried about you, you jerk. Don’t do that again.” Ren patted the back of her shirt. 

”It wasn’t on purpose, you know.”

”Ren,” Yusuke said, “Does that mean you know how to faint on cue?” He looked genuinely curious. “If so, you really must demonstrate for me some time. I think it would-“ 

”I’m sorry I worried you, Yusuke,” Ren cut him off. “C’mon.” He motioned towards the two already hugging him. Yusuke smiled and walked over to join, placing a caring hand on Ren’s shoulder. 

”Please be more careful,” He said softly. 

”I’ll try.” 

”That’s all I can ask if you.” Yusuke’s face softened.

Akechi didn’t move from his position, instead just observing the group hug. Guess he still wasn’t much of a hug kind of guy. With a soft look and a soft voice, to Ren, “I’m glad you’re alright. You gave me- us, quite the scare.” He paused. “Any idea what caused it?”

Ren’s heart drummed inside his chest. “Yeah,” He croaked out. 

Akechi opened his mouth, obviously about to ask what it was that triggered it, but Ren cut him off before then. 

”How long was I out?” He asked. Akechi gave him a look that Ren took to mean that they were definitely going to have to talk about this later, but Ren tore his eyes away, instead to Futaba, still clutching his shirt.

Futaba pulled out her phone and checked the time. “About half an hour? I think?”

Shit. That was longer than he thought. Though, thinking on it, if he’d only been out a few minutes, they wouldn’t have moved him to another room. He’d have to thank whoever’s idea it was not to call any paramedics. Though, having the paramedics called to deal with an unconscious customer right after they’d opened probably was something that the laser tag company did not want to have to deal with. 

Ren sheepishly, apologetically smiled, “I guess we lost then?” 

Akechi snorted.

”Dude,” Ryuji broke away, aghast, “After all that and you’re just askin’ if we won?”

”Did we?”

Futaba pulled away a bit, “They called it off after you… yeah.” A cocky grin broke out. “We totally would’ve won, though.” Nodding towards Yusuke, “Even if _someone_ wasn’t pulling all of his weight.” Yusuke looked affronted but didn’t argue the point, “You’ve still got it, Joker!” 

”Yeah man, I was doin’ pretty well, but heh,” Ryuji rubbed the back of his head, “I’m not that good with accuracy, ya know?”

Ryuji studied Ren’s face, “Are you sure you’re alright?” He lowered his voice, barely above a whisper, “He didn’t do anythin’ to you, yeah?” 

Ren, keeping his voice at the same level, meeting the warm brown of Ryuji’s eyes, “He didn’t. I promise.” A smile that he hoped conveyed assurance, “I’d tell you if he did. Trust me.”

Ryuji hummed something that was a mixed between affirmation and surrender. He slung a protective arm around Ren, and addressed the other man in the group, the one standing apart from them, “I still don’t trust you. ‘Specially after this.” He paused, rolling the shape of the words around in his mouth like they were lead on his tongue, and reluctantly, “But you did do good out there. I guess. So thanks. And for gettin’ help when Ren-. He says he’s okay, and that you didn’t do shit, so I trust him, but I still don’t trust you, got it?” 

Akechi nodded solemnly. Ryuji seemed content with that answer (or rather, lack thereof), and turned back to his friends. 

”RenRen-“

”Don’t call me that-“ Ren cut in but Ryuji cut him off again, with a wave of his hand. 

”You hungry? I know you like, just woke up but, well, I go could for something, and you know how the mall just opened? Well, Tatsuya from the team said there was a ramen place here that’s pretty good, and I was kinda hopin’ to try it out.” He added quickly, “If you’re feelin’ up to it, of course.”

Ren considered it. He’d certainly rested enough, and could go for a bite, but would it be the best idea? Especially considering the still palpable tension between Akechi and Ryuji, and the barely veiled distrust emanating from Futaba. But, however, he knew that this was Ryuji’s way of trying to make Ren feel better. 

Yusuke’s stomach growled loudly. Everyone looked at him. Futaba started snickering, Ryuji clapped him on the back, and Ren let out a chuckle, and even Akechi snorted. Well, there was no way that Ren was going to deny Yusuke the chance at a meal, even if Yusuke would be the one paying for it.

Ren ducked out of the embrace of his friends and bowed, over dramatically as ever, holding his arm out. “After you,” He lifted his head and looked through thick bangs at Ryuji, amused smile dancing at his lips. 

Rolling his eyes, Ryuji tousled his friend’s dark hair and led the way, Futaba bouncing at his heels. Without stopping, she turned back to Ren.

”Thanks for paying for my food!” She turned back around and caught up to Ryuji. 

Ren shot back up, “I _never_ said I’d-“ 

He was stopped by a pat on his shoulder from a passing Yusuke. “That is very kind of you, Ren. Thankfully, I will be able to pay for myself.” And he kept walking, following trailing behind the chatting pair. 

That left Ren with Akechi. Alone. 

Neither of them seemed to know what to say. So they simply stood there in silence, only the loud chatting of Ren’s friends echoing in the hall and the loud buzzing fluorescent lights filling the silence. Neither met each other’s eyes. 

”Um,” Ren started, desperate to break the silence. Shit. This was harder than he thought it would be. Come on, say something. “Should we. Uh. Follow them?” _Real smooth_. 

”I don’t think Sakamoto would be especially pleased if I tagged along,” He said as way of deflecting. Putting the blame on someone else on why he couldn’t do something instead of just admitting he didn’t or couldn’t. Not this time, Detective. 

” _I_ would like it,” Ren started to reach over to grab Akechi’s hand, but stopped himself. Not now. This was probably a bad time. “Come on!” He said, and started walking towards the friends already nearing the end of the hall. If Akechi wanted to come, he could come, but Ren couldn’t force him. Nor did he want to. He knew how much Akechi valued choice. 

To his surprise, he felt the warm flesh of another’s hand in his own. He looked up to meet the hand’s owner’s copper eyes. 

”If it’s alright,” Akechi said, “I don’t want you to collapse again.” Ren nodded. Akechi looked visibly relieved. He looked as though he was choosing his next words carefully. “What. What did Sakamoto mean? Why did he think I did something?”

_Shit._ Ren kept his voice low, in case any of his friends heard him, “Akechi, I promise I _will_ talk about it. I promise. Just, not when everyone’s around? After dinner.”

”I’m holding you to that.” The former detective’s voice got quieter. “You really worried me, you know.” He stopped talking but kept walking. Ren didn’t know what to say. 

When they reached the end of the hallway, the trio of Ren’s friends were standing at the end of the hallway, in front of the door that led out of the employee only hallway. Ren quickly snatched his hand out of Akechi’s before his friends could see it. He noticed Akechi giving him a look,and Ren shot him a pleading look. Akechi didn’t say anything more. 

”Took you long enough,” Ryuji moaned good-naturedly. The faux blonde shoved hard against the door as he opened it, sending it banging against the wall when it opened. Ren said a silent prayer of thanks that there was nobody right outside it when Ryuji had opened it. “This way!” 

And with that, the four trailed after Ryuji, who led them towards the ramen restaurant with a pep in his step. 

\---

Ryuji slammed down the empty ramen bowl with a happy sigh. 

”Damn that’s so good stuff,” He said, wiping his mouth, “Tatsuya really knew what he was talkin’ about.”

Yusuke gently set down his chopsticks, closed his eyes in thought, “It was quite delicious. Please give my thanks to this ‘Tatsuya’ as well.”

”Yo,” Ryuji said, “We should make this a thing.” No one responded, so he continued. “A thing! You know! Like, a monthly thing. Laser tag followed by ramen.” He looked at Ren, “If you think you’ll be okay with it. Cuz of the, well,” He didn’t need to say it, everyone knew what he was referring to. 

Ren waved his hand is a way that meant that it was no bother, “Don’t worry about it. We do all make a pretty good team.” He jokingly elbowed Akechi, sitting next to him on the booth. “All of us.” He paused. “Sorry, for uh. Yeah.” Having an episode. Blacking out. Not explaining. God, he was going to have a long night. A long night of talks he didn’t want to have, but no way he could avoid. 

”Really, it’s fine.” Ryuji took a swig of his cola, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re okay.” He narrowed his eyes. “And you’re sure you’re okay?” 

Ren nodded, running his finger along the edge of his empty bowl, not breaking eye contact. “Really. I promise.” He had to be thankful for Ryuji’s (understandable) distrust of Akechi that he didn’t broach the subject of why it was that Ren blacked out. The second he got home, when Akechi was away, however, he was certainly going to have to face a barrage of questions. In an attempt to lighten the mood, “We should, though. If all of us are okay with it.” He put emphasis on the ‘all.’ 

”If classes allow, I would like to,” Yusuke agreed, “It gives quite the rush. As well as more reference for more dynamic poses.” He stopped, turned thoughtful. “I do wonder if the employees would permit me to bring cameras in. Memory is not the most reliable when being used as a reference and-“

”Inari,” Futaba cut him off, “I think there’s some laws against that. Though,” She grinned, “If you really want it, I could probably get the security camera feeds for you.” Yusuke nodded in appreciation. 

”Isn’t that illegal?” Akechi asked, saying something for the first time since ordering. 

Ryuji’s and Futaba’s heads swiveled to stare aghast at the former assassin while Ren prepared his foot to have to kick Ryuji if he said anything overly incriminating in regards to Akechi’s past. 

”Oh, so you’re gon- Ow!” Ryuji stopped when Ren’s foot slammed straight into his shin. Ren glared at him, and Ryuji seemed to catch the drift. “Uh, it’s uh, no big deal? It’s a, uh, joke?” He said very unconvincingly. Akechi gave him a look that indicated that he was not buying it, but wasn’t willing to push the issue. 

Which, Ren thought, was a smart decision, considering the underlying mood at the table. Despite the attempt at the cheery atmosphere, coupled with the pleasant contentedness that comes from eating a good meal, the mood was still undeniably tense. Ren’s friends were still clearly worried about Ren, but didn’t want to bring it up in front of the person that they were almost certainly sure had something to do with it, regardless of what Ren could tell them. Ren couldn’t blame them. Of course, they distrusted Akechi; they’d be stupid not to, considering everything. And Akechi, not understanding the undercurrent of distrust and disgust directed at him for a reason that no one was willing to tell him. 

Akechi laid down his chopsticks on his now near empty bowl and picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, even though Ren couldn’t see anything astray. Always keeping up a polite face in public. Guess that was another thing that carried over. Keeping his voice ever light, ever placid, and ever annoyingly antagonistic, “If that’s what you say.” He said, raising his eyes to meet Ryuji’s. A challenge. Ren groaned internally. 

”The fuck that’s supposed to mean?” Ryuji said, rising to the challenge. “New getup, same bastard, huh?” 

”I wouldn’t know, now would I?” 

That wasn’t directed at Ryuji, and Ren knew it. But Ryuji didn’t seem to pick up on that. He angrily snatched his check off the table and headed towards the counter to pay. 

”I’ll. Uh. I’ll go check on him,” Ren said, grabbing his own receipt and hurriedly following Ryuji. 

”He fuckin’ sucks, man,” Ryuji didn’t even look at Ren when Ren joined him. Guess knowing him long enough meant that of course he would know that his friend would follow him. He pulled out various coins from his wallet and started slipping them into the tray. “Yeah, he’s a good shot. _Of course_ he’s a good fucking shot, but. And I know you said he had nothin’ to do with your… thing…. But he did last time and c’mon Ren, he’s still a dick and we all know it, amnesia or not.” He slammed the bills down as well and turned towards Ren. Ryuji took a deep breath. “When he’d ran up and said somethin’ happened to you, I was honestly real scared. ‘Specially since he seemed to be involved. I trust you Ren, but I don’t, I can’t trust that asshole.”

Now it was Ren’s turn to take a breath. “I know. I’m not asking you to trust him. I’m asking you to trust me.”

Ryuji sighed. “I do. I just,” He shot a look at something, or rather, someone behind Ren. Ren didn’t have to be a psychic to know who. Eyes shooting back to Ren, “Be careful, alright?” Ren nodded, acknowledging. He put on a carefree smile again, though Ren could see it was slightly strained at the corners. “It was kinda a good idea inviting him, I gotta admit. This way we can keep an eye on him.”

Ren shrugged. “Of course,” He said quietly. Yeah. That was the reason. Totally. 

Ryuji slapped him on the back again, ushering Ren to the counter since he had finished paying. Ren looked at the bill in hands, groaning internally at the price. He was really going to have to learn to stand up to Futaba in regards to paying for her food. But, a small voice reminded him, that hadn’t worked the past couple of years, had it? He mentally sighed. Point to the voice inside his head. Again. 

”Hey,” He grabbed Ryuji’s sleeve as he was about to walk away, “You know what _would_ make me feel better?” He smiled in a way that made Ryuji groan, but ask all the same. 

”What?”

”First, close your eyes.”

”Ren, I’m not doin’ th-“

”Come _on _, Ryuji.”__

____

”Fine.” Ryuji grumbled, but did as he was told anyway. 

____

Hook, line, and sinker. Ren shoved the check for his and Futaba’s dinner into his open, and awaiting hand. The blonde cracked an eye open and seemed confused, then opened the other eye. Having finally seen what he was holding in his hand, he groaned and shoved the check right back to Ren. 

____

”Bro, I’m not payin’ for both you and Futaba’s dinner. I don’t have that kinda money.”

____

”And I do?” Ren asked as he nonetheless started towards the counter, pulling out his wallet along the way. Ryuji snorted.

____

”Somehow, yeah.”

____

”You wound me.”

____

”Be ‘wounded’.”

____

Ren laughed and counted out the coins, each one clattering into the hard plastic tray one by one. Guess that worked out well, seeing that Ryuji was now sporting one of his signature lopsided grins. But it fell. Ryuji leaned in close, eyes darting around as if keeping watch for something, and he didn’t want them to overhear.

____

”We’ll talk about it when we get home, yeah? When,” Ryuji paused, “ _he_ isn’t around, yeah?” Ren nodded and hummed, fishing the last of the coins out and into the tray. The man behind the counter slid it back and started to count out the money. Ren kept his attention on the clerk. Dealing with this was a problem for future Ren, not Current Ren. 

____

Out of the corner of Ren’s eye, he saw Ryuji open his mouth to start to say something, but clamped it shut and his expression soured. Ren didn’t have to use a third eye to figure out what that was about. 

____

”Hey,” Ren said. 

____

”Hello,” Akechi answered. Bingo. The cashier nodded, content with the amount of money that Ren had placed in front of him and wished him a good evening. Ren moved out of the way, Akechi following behind him to pay his own check. “Yusuke should be along shortly,” He said, to no one in particular. Even though he was almost absolutely sure that Akechi couldn’t see him, Ren nodded. Ryuji said nothing. 

____

Ren wished he knew what to say.

____

\--

____

Autumn was coming quicker than Ren had anticipated. As soon as the group exited the mall, his face was slapped with the brisk cold of the late summer night. He pulled up the collar of his blazer, brushed some of his unruly hair over the tips of his ears. It wouldn’t take him long to adjust to the sudden temperature change, but better to be more comfortable during that adjustment than not. Ryuji didn’t seem bothered as usual, and Futaba wore enough layers that she was never bothered by unexpected weather. Yusuke, ever serene, seemed unbothered as well. 

____

Akechi, of course, was unreadable. Lagging behind the group, arms stiff at his side, prim and proper, walking like a kid in a school procession. 

____

He didn’t join in the conversation as they walked along the lamplit streets, laughing and lighthearted, no matter how much Ren tried to urge him to join in. It wasn’t like he was ignoring anyone; if spoken to, he’d reply of course. Ren kept glancing back to him. He wasn’t stupid, far from it in fact, but it only took someone willing to notice that something was up with Akechi Goro.

____

Something about the way that Akechi kept glancing from Ren, to Ren’s friends, then anything else around them to give the air that he wasn’t made Ren increasingly curious. He bit his lower lip as he rolled around ideas on what to say. Nothing seemed to have worked so far..

____

Up ahead, the bright lights of the station grew closer and closer with each step. The heavy stone in Ren’s stomach grew bigger and heavier and fell deeper and deeper down. Each step felt like walking through swamp. 

____

Yusuke was the first to enter through the gates and semi-jog to up the stairs and out of sight, saying that his train was about to arrive and he needed to be able to make it. The rest of the group waved him off, wished him luck. 

____

The awkwardness in the air felt suffocating. Someone needing to take the first step to leave, but no one wanting to. 

____

”Well,” Ryuji said, shattering the tension, “We going in or what?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and started towards the gates inside the station. 

____

”Ah,” Akechi said, “I have to go to another one. No transfers.” An apologetic smile. 

____

”Then why the hell did you walk all the way here?” 

____

Akechi shrugged. “I liked the company, I’d guess.” Futaba and Ryuji looked at him suspiciously. Was he using this as a chance to follow them? To try something? But then, why would he admit to this being an incompatible station; why not just follow them further? Unless… he really was telling the truth. 

____

”See ya, then,” Ryuji’s voice was full of the same chill as the air that tinged the tips of Ren’s ears and nose red. Futaba lifted up and waved a single hand. “C’mon, Ren, let’s get home.” He turned back around and started towards the gates again. Ren took a (hopefully) quiet deep breath. 

____

”I’ll walk him to his station. Catch up with you at home, yeah?” Ren clapped a hand on Akechi’s shoulder. “I’m going to walk this guy to his station. Since he’s new to the area, you know?” 

____

Akechi gave him an odd look, one that Ren couldn’t entirely decipher. But he didn’t say anything. 

____

Ryuji walked back over, and leaned into Ren, making no true effort to hide what he was saying, keeping eye contact with Akechi the entire time. “Call me if anything happens?” Ren nodded. “Good.” He pulled back to join Futaba. “See ya tonight!” 

____

Futaba held Ren’s gaze for a long moment. He nodded, waved, gave a reassuring smile. She returned the motion and hopped after Ryuji, towards the gates. With a beep, the gates opened, and the pair disappeared up the stairs.

____

”Shall we go then?” Akechi’s bare hand brushed against Ren’s own, who jumped at the sudden, surprising, warmth. And just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. Akechi hadn’t even waited for Ren to answer, just turned around and started walking. He got a few feet ahead before he turned his head over his shoulder, a cocky smirk dancing at his lips, “Are you coming?”

____

Ren smirked in return; it was so very Akechi just to go on ahead without waiting, as if he assumed Ren was going to chase after him. 

____

As he jumped after Akechi to join him in step, Ren hoped that the brisk air would hide his blush.

____

\--

____

”So.” Ren said, having walked in complete silence since the station. Obviously, Akechi was wanting to say something. And obviously still, Ren very much did not want to talk about what he was sure Akechi wanted to. But, honestly, this was getting horribly awkward. Ren didn’t like awkward, at least, not when it wasn’t funny. Funny awkward he could deal with. He was a master at that. But this kind? Absolutely not. This was the kind that was filled with dread and words unsaid. Not the good kind of words either. 

____

”So.” Akechi responded in kind. If he said anything else, Ren didn’t hear it, as the blaring chimes of the railroad crossing gate lowered in front of them. 

____

Akechi stepped in front of Ren, meeting his eyes. So close, so very close. An arm’s reach away. His hair fluttered and flew in the wind of the train as it shot by. Illuminated from the back from the lit train cars passing by, Ren could see his face was serious. 

____

”Amamiya Ren,” Akechi said, close enough that Ren could hear him even over the cacophony of the chiming alarm and the train rushing by. Ren’s hear skipped a beat. “I believe I’m owed an explanation now.”

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Sorry for like, disappearing for two months, I think? Anyway. There was the Holidays, which of course were busy, plague or not. And then, surprise, I moved like 10 hours away from where I was previously living at the beginning of January, so that was a lot of stress and time and stuff. Then a lot of other things that I won't bore you with, but I'm back!  
> Sorry if anything in the fic feels a bit off, and please tell me about any formatting or spelling errors or word errors, ect ect. Kinda been working on it on and off, but stress has been.... high to say the least and i just haven't had the right mental space. Thanks to everyone that's been sticking around and I really hate to leave it on another cliff hanger, but hey, at least next chapter we finally get the boys talking to each other and being more semi-honest again. And Scramble releases here in the west next week! Good times!
> 
> Anyway, again, thanks a ton for reading and I hope you enjoy. And if anything seems off, just let me know! See you all again in a week or two (hopefully not three!)


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